When Donn and I were doing mission work in Japan, our doctor allowed us to stay in his boyhood home when we came back to Pennsylvania each August, as well as when we came back from Japan to stay. One feature of that house which I especially appreciated was the overhead light above the bathtub. We had never owned a home with this feature.

I liked it so much that I asked Donn if he could install a light above the tub in our bathroom in the house we purchased on Plum Street. I knew he could do it since he’s an electrical engineer, and he agreed.

The other day we were discussing how much nicer it is to shower in a lighted area. I said, “I would never have thought to ask you to put a light bulb there if we hadn’t had a light above the tub at Dr. Nystrom’s house.”

I paused, then added as I thought aloud, “Maybe if you don’t know it’s possible to have light, you’re content to be in the dark.” As I heard what I said,  I knew the Holy Spirit was making a spiritual comparison. Could it be that many people are content to live in spiritual darkness because they don’t know there’s any other way to live. They have spent their entire lives in darkness and don’t know it’s possible to live in the light.

Donn and I watched a movie the other night about a community who had an interesting tradition. Every year when seasons changed and darkness began to settle in earlier, the people all lighted lanterns and walked through the streets of their town. For those people, this tradition had no spiritual significance, but it reminded me of how important it is for us as believers to take the light of Jesus into our towns.

 Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Who ever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” but in Matthew 5:14, he also said to his followers, “You are the light of the world.”

When we receive Jesus, we carry His light within us, and it becomes our privilege to allow His light to shine through us, to show people there is another way to live.  I’ll never forget the morning I stood on our porch in Sandy Lake and sang, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” Later, a friend came to visit and in the conversation, she said, “Daisy, you’re a light here in our community.”

And I wept because it’s the desire of my heart that the light of Jesus would shine through me, helping to light the darkness and point the way to the source of that light for those who are in darkness.

So if you are a follower of Jesus, my challenge to you this Christmas season is to, Take Your Candle and Go Light Your World.* Ask the Lord how you can let your light shine in a way that shows your friends and neighbors there is another way to live.

(*From a song written by Chris Rice and made popular by Kathy Troccoli.)