If your family is anything like mine, you really like Christmas lights. Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not the house on the corner with fifty-million lights on it. In fact, this is the first year we have really had anything like a fancy light display in front of our house.
No, what I mean is we just really like seeing Christmas lights. At Christmastime we will go on a car ride just to look at lights. We love to see the glow in the cold darkness. And, we tend to be pretty picky. Oh, the big blowup displays are neat. And the flashing, whirring, moving, crazy ones are fun to see. But we really love the well-balanced sensible displays that include a beautiful nativity and lights that just make you think about the message of Christmas.
Christmas lights are a good illustration of Christians, or at least what we should be like. These lights reach out and grab your attention in the shadows of the night. Their glow brings warmth and joy. They inspire and encourage in their own special way. We could have Christmas without Christmas lights, but they add something that anyone can appreciate if they will try.
Jesus says we are meant to shine as lights in this world. We are not supposed to draw attention to ourselves for ourselves. However, we are supposed to draw attention for Jesus. Our works are meant to reach out and grab the attention of a lost and dying world. Our activities should bring warmth and joy to people’s lives. Inspiring and encouraging others should come natural to us.
The fact is that many of us will spend more time and money on Christmas lights than we will on the light of our hearts shinning for Christ in this present darkness. We can be picky about our Christmas lights, but complacent about our testimony. This year, as we seek to shine for Jesus, let’s be the spiritual light display that even the most picky of Christmas light connoisseurs will appreciate.