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Connect to Jesus, the Light of the World

Filed under: Articles,Christmas — Tags: — Pastor Bob McLellan @ 10:56 am November 19, 2009

I have noticed that many people have taken advantage of the nice weather to put up their Christmas lights.  As nice as some of these lights look, I was reminded a couple of weeks ago when the power went out, their beauty depends entirely upon their ability to connect to a power source.  Without the power source there is no light to be shared with our world.

What is true for those Christmas lights is also true for each one of us spiritually.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.”  He also said two verses later, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  

What we need to understand is we are not the source of the light we are to radiate. Jesus is the Light of the World.  He is the power source for our light. It is our responsibility to stay close to Him and stay plugged into His will and direction for our lives.  He is the One whose light can guide us through the darkness all around.  He is the One who can give us hope, peace, joy and love in the midst of all the overwhelming needs, pressures and stress we are facing.

These four qualities are represented by the four candles of the advent wreath. These qualities are not to be our goal in life, but are the byproduct of accepting for ourselves the reason Jesus, the Light of the World came in to this world. The purpose of Jesus coming to this earth is described in the words of the hymn by Dottie Rambo which says, “He left the splendour of heaven knowing His destiny was the lonely hill of Golgotha. There to lay down His life for me.” It was necessary for Jesus to die on the Cross of Calvary in order to provide the sacrifice for us to be forgiven of our sins and to make it possible for us to become children of God.

At the same time, the choice is ours, we can surrender our lives to His plan and stay close to Him, or we can go our own way and do things as we want.

The apostle John in the third chapter of his Gospel reminds us of this choice when he wrote, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (Vs 17-21)

As we move into this Christmas season Jesus will provide the hope, peace, joy and love that comes from the salvation He provides as we trust our lives to His direction and care. If we want to be His lights, reflecting His glory, so that others will be attracted to Him and encouraged even in dark and difficult times in their lives, then we must make sure we stay close to Jesus ourselves, the One who is the Light of the world.

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