Light of Life

Devotional by Holli Davila

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.”

John 1:1-5

John 1 is a poetic explanation of Jesus as he relates to the earth, humans, and history. John calls Jesus “The Word.” This Word has some really beautiful qualities -it was at the beginning (eternal), with God (connected), was God (holy). All things come through him (power/source). And then John gives us a metaphor: “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.” Life. Life from Jesus is the light for all of humanity. 

As we enter into this Christmas season, we are going to consider light. Light has transformative power. It has many uses. We’re going to see lights everywhere around us this month - on trees, on houses, in homes, on display. And it’s joyful. I walked out onto the street this week and the first house on the block had their lights up. My heart skipped a beat, and I said, to no one in particular, “well, now, that’s happy!” Light does something to us. Candles lit on Christmas eve call in the sacred; a spotlight draws the crowd’s attention and hushes the crowd; blinking lights in an unfamiliar place feels like an omen. 

But, the light we’re going to talk about is the best light - this light has life in it. This light comes from Jesus - the eternal, connected, holy source of everything. It’s not a trick of the scene or a decoration of the season - the light from Jesus is forever. The bible even says that in heaven we won’t need a sun because Jesus will be shining (Revelation 22:5).

And what does this glorious light do? It “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it.” Jesus’s light shines with purpose. It’s here to dispel the darkness. Light and dark were among the first created, and they’ve been at odds with each other ever since. Yet we know, in Jesus, the light wins every time. 

So today I invite you to consider how you relate to the Jesus’s light of life. Are you connected to it? Do you sense his light in your life dispelling the darkness? There are lights all around you this season - may they invite you to connect to the light of life with each and every twinkle.