Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – December 19, 2019
In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:4
This time of year, much of life seems to center around themes of light. The days grow shorter and evening light grows dimmer. We hang lights upon trees and upon our homes (some more intensely than others!). And in just a few days’ time we, with the wise men of old, will follow the light to come and worship the true Light of the World. Yet in a season often overrun with nostalgia and sentimentality, these various “lights” get bundled together into a generic form of well wishes and warm feelings.
According to St. John, Jesus Christ is the uncreated eternal light of God. His life is not derived from another source nor does it depend upon anyone or anything. He, along with the Father and Holy Spirit, is the one through whom all things were made (John 1:3). And contrary to modern opinion, this is true whether you and I believe it or not!
Also contrary to modern opinion, you and I are not our own source of light and life. Though we idolize and aspire to be “self-made” men and women, free from constraints and obligations to others, our lives simply are not our own. In fact, in and of ourselves we live a half-life at best: breathing and moving but not truly living. In John 1 we are given an invitation to live life to the fullest, as the Lord longs for it to be lived.
The only way to have life is to be filled with the light of Christ. Simple as this may sound, we spend our lives trying to disprove it! We seek out fulfillment in work, food, entertainment, and sex, believing these will lead us into the fullness of life we know in the core of our being that we were made to experience. Yet each of these is a shadow and illusion, and when our hopes are placed in them we enter into greater darkness, not light.
The Lord longs to fill you with his light so that you can experience life. It is entirely possible to go through decades of your life without ever truly coming alive. Christmas is the celebration of God with us, the light that comes down to enlighten us all (John 1:9). May the Lord open your heart this day to receive that light, perhaps as never before, and begin to truly live as you were made to live.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them” (Isaiah 9:2).
Prayer
Father, fill us with your life and light that we might be set aflame with passion for you and love for others, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
What shadows have you called light, believing they will give you life? How can you take steps out of the darkness and into the light of Christ this week?
Related Reading
Psalm 36:9; Ephesians 5:14; 1 John 2:8-10
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