LIGHT: noun. something that makes things visible or affords illumination.
In this season of Chanukah and Christmas, we celebrate LIGHT. Jews remember the miraculous lighting of the menorah when one day’s oil lasted for eight days. Christians celebrate the birth of Yeshua (Jesus), the Light of the World. Both refer to God’s power and glory manifested through light.
The first words we see about LIGHT are the first of God’s words recorded in scripture.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.” — Genesis 1:3-4
Speaking of light, I have to mention my favorite miracle story. It’s from the book of John, chapter 9. It’s the story of the healing of the man born blind.
It’s a very long miracle story, full of disciples who missed the point, hypocrites who were only interested in stopping the Nazarene, and one man, born blind, who surely had no hope of ever receiving the gift of sight.
Yeshua explained to his disciples that the man was born blind not because of his sin or his parents’ sins, but so that God’s glory could be manifested through this man. Then Yeshua declared “I am the light of the world” and proceeded to heal the blind man.
The men who opposed Yeshua didn’t like this one little bit, so they tried to disparage the miracle by claiming this man wasn’t really blind to begin with. They even brought in the man’s parents and tried to intimidate them into saying he wasn’t their son. Finally, you can almost feel the tension as they tried to turn the healed man against Yeshua. “Don’t you know this man is a sinner?” they asked.
Then the man who was healed utters one of my favorite statements in all of scripture. He said, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
Though I was blind, now I see.
“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;” — Isaiah 9:2a
In many ways, we’re all born blind. As we learn and grow, we catch glimpses of the truth, as through a glass darkly, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think we understand all of God’s truth. We need God’s healing miracle in our lives just as the man born blind needed it. Without God to open our eyes, we’re likely to grope around in the darkness and fall into a ditch. It’s the wise person who knows that he relies on God for his understanding.
What can we as writers do to reflect God’s light through our work? How can we be helpers in spreading His truth to a dark world?
“Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY CHANUKAH!