Christmas Day
Monday, December 25, 2017
John 1:1-14
THE LIGHTS OF LIFE
One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was my family’s annual journey through the “Lights of Life” Christmas display at Life University in Marietta, GA. The event features more than a million lights spanning more than a mile of the campus. There is a nativity scene, a menorah, a 60-foot-tall Christmas tree, and a 65-foot-tall rendition of Santa and his sleigh that is the tallest display in the Southeast. Each year we would pack extended family in a single vehicle and drive through the display. It wasn’t Christmas until we saw the Lights of Life!
Christmas is all about light and life. John’s gospel reminds us that in Jesus, the word-made-flesh, is life and light. Through Jesus, “All things came into being … and without him not one thing came into being.” Jesus, the light and life and word of God, created and sustains all things. This light “shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.” Authentic and abundant life can only be found in the presence of Jesus.
This Christmas Day, as we look for deeper meaning in our favorite holiday, may we find the light that shines in the darkness among all the lights that adorn our homes. As we unwrap the thoughtful gifts of others, may we be reminded of the gift that leads us into life. May Christmas be more than something we “drive through,” but a life we live each day. May Christmas become flesh in us and illuminate those around us with the Light of Life.
Merry Christmas!
–Alex Gallimore