Before we take the Christmas decorations down, I love to just sit and look at the lights for a while, to savor the season that passed so quickly. Besides lights on the tree, I have a lighted garland over the windows next to my desk and a small tree on my dresser, as well as the outdoor lights.
Christmas lights are one of the things I miss the most when everything goes back to “normal.” The rest of the winter can be hard with less light and barren, cold, colorless landscapes. Valentine’s Day is a bright spot for us. We have family birthdays in February and March. But that stretch of winter is usually my least favorite part of the year.
It helps to know that, after the winter solstice in December, we’re gradually getting more sunlight. It doesn’t look or feel like it at first. But I take it on faith that it is happening and it will be noticeable in several weeks.
Scripture mentions light over 200 times. God made it the first day of creation in Genesis 1. And the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, Revelation, says that in the “new Jerusalem,” we won’t need lamps or even sunlight any more, because “the Lord God will be their light.”
Some of the Bible references to light are metaphorical. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Matthew 4:12-17 says this was fulfilled in Jesus.
When Simeon saw Jesus as a baby, he said, “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:22-32).
In John 8:12, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
After John the Baptist was born, his father, Zechariah, said, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79). Some other translations use “dawn” or “dayspring” in place of “sunrise.”
Josh Taylor shares this beautiful observation in Mercy Mild: A 25-Day Christmas Devotional Tracing Christ’s Love from Eden to Eternity:
When you’re watching a sunrise, you can’t pinpoint the exact moment night becomes day. It spreads, seeps into everything, changes the whole landscape one shade at a time. That’s what God’s mercy does through Jesus. It doesn’t just blast away the darkness—it transforms it, warms it, makes things grow that couldn’t grow before.
Christmas isn’t just about string lights and wrapped presents. It’s about light breaking into darkness in the gentlest way possible. About God looking at our mess and instead of sending judgment, sending His Son—the Dayspring, the Sunrise.
Sometimes the quietest light makes the biggest difference (pp. 140-141).
Sometimes God appears in a blaze of glory: on Sinai, to Paul the apostle, in Revelation. But when Jesus came to save us, He came gently, spreading His light like a sunrise.
Sometimes it’s hard to see His light. As Andrew Peterson wrote in his beautiful song, “Is He Worthy,” the world feels broken. Sometimes it seems like the wrong side is winning.
But John 4:9 assures us, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Maltbie Babcock captures something of this truth in “This Is My Father’s World”: “Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.”
His light is with us beyond Christmas. We see God’s light in His Word. We see it in His people. We see it when people turn to Jesus for salvation and serve Him and others.
Those big, glorious bursts of God’s light are usually for a short time, for specific special occasions. Then life goes back to (a hopefully new) normal. After all the excitement Mary experienced with a visit from Gabriel, having baby Jesus, and running from Herod, she spent the next several years as an ordinary wife and mother. But she “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). After the shepherds saw the angel host and followed the instructions to find the newborn Jesus, they likely went back to shepherding. But “they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. . . And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them” (Luke 2:17, 20).
Like Mary, we can treasure and ponder what we’ve seen, heard, and experienced. Like the shepherds, we can share His light with others, glorifying and praising Him in our everyday lives.
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Stray Thoughts 
I really love how Jesus is associated with light. Light exposes darkness and Jesus by His Holy Spirit exposes our sin.
My floors never look worse than when a ray of sunshine illuminates all the dust and dirt that accumulates. I have to get and immediate sweep or vacuum.
Light also brightens a room or even our moods.
Great post.
Thank you for the beautiful message. Today, in church, we discussed the light of Christ. We received Epiphany stars with words written on them. We talked about the light that guides us through each day. His light. Have a blessed week! 🙂
I’ve been listening to sermons each evening as I crochet and there have been several that have mentioned about Christ being our Light that shines in the dark world. And then this morning, our Pastor mentioned it too. Thank you, Barbara, for the reminder about His Light.
I love that beautiful light displays and candlelight is such an important part of Christmas decorating, because it’s such a great reminder the Jesus is the light of the world. We leave some of our lights up all winter to help bring a sense of hope and cheer even during bleak January!
Thank you for sharing that little insight about Mary’s many years of faithfully and quietly raising her family and running her home. It’s something we don’t think about often, even as we honor Mary for her obedience and joyful willingness to serve God. She must have put in some very long and not exciting days and years that we aren’t told about explicitly.
Thanks for faithfully sharing your wisdom with Scripture and a Snapshot each week – I appreciate you so much! Happy New Year!