THE SET UP: Have you ever worked the overnight shift? In college, I worked as a security guard to help pay my way through school. It was an interesting job – unless you were working the overnight shift. Then it became a game of survival as I tried to stay awake and semi-alert until my shift was over. Many nights I was sure I wasn’t going to make it and every flat surface I saw was a potential bed, and then the first rays of sunlight would appear as the sun came up. That light gave me hope.
Those first rays of light let me know the night was over, and pretty soon I would be punching out and grabbing some sleep.
In the Old Testament, one writer compares waiting for God to a night watchman waiting for the sun to come up (Psalm 130:6). When you have been stuck in darkness for a while, any little glimpse of light gives you hope. Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned,” as he prophesied the birth of the Messiah. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophecy. As we consider the Advent theme of hope, we can give thanks that Jesus came as a light in the darkness, bringing us hope.
PASSAGES TO READ: Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:12-17
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
What’s the darkest place you have ever been? A closet? A cave? A power outage?
“A light in the darkness” seems like a good definition of hope. How would you define hope?
As Christmas approaches, what is one way that Christ has brought hope to your life?
PRAYER IDEA: “God, thanks for sending Jesus into this world to be a light in the darkness. Thank you for caring enough about me to bring me hope through Christ. As Christmas approaches, help me to remember the light and to reflect the light to those around me. Amen.”