the Light of the world, an advent devotion

Gather your family (or class), a dark room & a candle!

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

This was written nearly 800 years before the birth of Jesus!  God planned for Jesus to be born in this little town of Bethlehem. That star above a little known town was just a small glimpse of an everlasting light, Jesus, who was bringing with Him salvation.

The darkness that surrounded us before we lit the candle is what life is like without Jesus. Darkness often represents evil, or sin.  Jesus is the light of the world.  He is not one of many lights; he is the only “light” that can take away our darkness of sin.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Each of us is born a sinner.  That means that no one had to teach us to do wrong things like lie, cheat, or think of ourselves before others.  We were certainly born able to do that!  It is for that darkness – our sin – that Jesus was born, died, and rose again to bring salvation.

Jesus tells us himself in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  When we trust Jesus as our Savior, and follow him, the darkness fades away; He forgives our sins. Jesus points us always to his (and our) heavenly Father. 

We are to be a light too!

In Matthew 5:14 -16 Jesus says that if we follow him, THE light of the world, that we are also to be a light shining before others! Imagine Jesus as the sun and we are the moon.  The moon doesn’t shine on its own.  The moon reflects the light of the sun. 

This Christmas, and always, we should be reflecting Jesus, pointing others to our heavenly Father too!

As we prepare our hearts for Christmas let's focus on the one true light of the world. That star that was shining bright in Bethlehem for all of the world to see - it was shining on the Savior of the world, the light of the world.