Christmas Lights

And God said: Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:3

“Turn off the lights first! Daddy, tell them to shut off the lights.”

I heard the plea of a little boy, last Sunday, at our zoo’s annual Christmas lighting ceremony. The Kiwana’s Club decorates the zoo grounds with a generous light display, and Sunday, the boy in a crowd of two thousand waited with eager anticipation.

“Turn off the lights! Daddy, tell them to shut off the lights.” He pointed first to the security lights on the monkey house and then to those on the lions’ cage.

The father put his hands on his son’s shoulders, bent down and gently asked him to be quiet.

“But no, Daddy!” he protested. Then, remembering another tradition, he said, “It’s like the birthday cake. It has to be dark first.”

Maybe they heard him, I don’t know, but the lights went out and the crowd grew still. Then, in a split second, the grounds and the sky exploded into a symphony of light. A train made of multicolored lights chugged around the beaver pond while a cascade of white lights spilled into the water. The little boy watched as an amber ape family swung from a fence almost within reach of the real giraffes. Green lights lit even the tallest trees, and everywhere you looked, there were lights.

“It’s Christmas!” he shouted, jumping up and down. “The lights came on! The lights came on!”

It was like that on the night that Christ was born. A heavenly angel waited with anticipation until the coal-black darkness descended on the field where shepherds watched their sheep. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, she appeared in a burst of light so powerful that the shepherds shielded their eyes.

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord!”

She might as well have shouted, “The lights came on! The lights came on!” because it was the night when Light conquered Darkness, a light so pure and bright, a light everlasting.

When we decorate, inside and out, with Christmas lights, we celebrate the birth of Christ, the Light of the World. This holiday season, take time to look at the lights. Notice how they bring a sense of safety to the once dark street corners and watch how they add warmth to your home. Then thank God. Thank Him for sending the Baby Jesus who grew up to lead our souls out of darkness and into the Light – forever and evermore.

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:5 NLT

And the little boy sang: