Light is a pretty cool thing. From a science perspective, it is without rival. Light and dark are not opposites, rather darkness is simply the absence of light. If light and dark were to have a fight, light would win. Every time. Imagine an entire Edward Jones Dome full of darkness. Light one candle in that dome and you could see it from anywhere in that enormous place. Light makes itself present. It takes effort to hide light.
Light is pretty is a pretty important part of the Christmas season. Candle-light services are popular. Advent wreaths progress with light until Christmas. Christmas lights decorate many houses and businesses. It's Biblical. John wrote that about Jesus coming into the world at Christmas time and said, "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." Isaiah said "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light." A little while later in Isaiah chapter 9 we have the Christmas verses, "For unto us a child is born."
Jesus is the light. By him being present in our lives, we shine forth, as well. This is why Jesus says,
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Jesus did not say that you might have the opportunity to be the light if you work really hard at it. You are the light of the world, so let those lights shine for the right reasons. Love shines bright. Let it shine.
How do you shine? By living differently than our dark world. By looking to follow the heart of God and not just the letter of the law. Jesus went on to say,
Matthew 5:43-44
43 “You Matthew 5:43-44have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
In addition, I want to share a little about numbers that have significance in the Bible.
There are some significant numbers in the Bible, so it might be a good idea to list a few of them. They tend to appear from time to time, like the number 14 for David. Most of them are more common than that one, though, so we'll run through a quick list of important numbers.
Three is a number that is usually associated with God or heaven or spiritual things. Some important three's would include the 3 person of God in the Trinity and Jesus being in the tomb for three days.
Four, on the other had, is a very earthly number. There are four directions (north, east, south, west), four seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter), four hemispheres, and four ancient elements (earth, wind, fire, water). This brings significance to Jesus' heavenly resurrection (three days in the tomb) compared to Lazarus' earthly resurrection (four days in the tomb).
When you add three and four, you get the complete number 7. Seven shows up a lot in the book of Revelation symbolizing completeness. A week is complete with seven days, like the seven days of creation. When Revelation was sent to the seven churches, it could be argued that it was sent to all the churches, the 'complete' number of churches.
One less than complete would be the devil's number of 6. The devil tries to imitate God's completeness, but comes up short.
10 is a number that represents power. Numbers are often multiplied by powers of ten. The beast in Revelation having 10 horns is a symbol of power.
The church is represented by the number 12. The people of God in the Old Testament were the twelve tribes of Israel. The people of God in the New Testament followed the teachings of the twelve disciples. All the people of God surround God's throne, represented by the twenty-four elders (12 + 12).
And 40 is a number for change. The earth was changed in the forty days it rained during Noah's time. The Israelites were changed during forty years of wandering in the desert. Moses was changed after spending forty days on the mountain with God. Jesus was changed during his temptations in the desert, being prepared for ministry.
Explained beautifully, thank you for your thoughtful writing!
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