By Steve

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
I'm not sure why I have never thought through this before. This idea has certainly been discussed often and written about in many volumes. Its just that it got to me last night (I hope you don't read this as just another true meaning of Christmas reminder).

I was laying in bed reading a great new book titled simply Christian when these questions popped into my head as I glanced out my window. Why do I hang Christmas lights on my house? (the house in the picture is not mine!) Why does anyone? Why do we like it and think it's beautiful? Why do we pay to drive through neighborhoods that have millions of lights where individual homes have been judged and awarded prizes? What is it about Christmas and lights?

Here's the thought that would not leave me alone as I continued through the pages of Simply Christian. Traditionally, Christmas is thought to be the time of year that Jesus (the light of the world; John 8:12) was born. It is the time that "light" came to earth. To be Christian, simply, is to continue to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

What it means to be Christian, to be light, to live like Jesus and continue in the mission that he initiated is for another time. Sorry. But I wonder. I wonder if some of us (whether we know it or not, and probably not) love Christmas lights because of a love and/or longing for Jesus. I wonder if some of us (whether we think about it or not, and probably not) decorate our homes with light because it is easier to hang lights than to live as light. And this last one makes me sad.

Why are so many more people in my neighborhood in awe of the beauty of Christmas lights than they are the light of the world? Could it be, I wonder, that I have learned how to make my home more interesting, more appealing, more awe inspiring, than my faith (and how many more questions can you think of here?).

I love Christmas lights. I will probably always hang lights and enjoy others displays as well. Light is my passion...just not Christmas lights.