You Light Up My Life 

 In the years before GPS, when 'ships were made of wood and men were made of steel', the Hole in the Wall Lighthouse on Great Abaco Island was a sight for sore eyes! After crossing 3000 miles of Atlantic Ocean, it was  the first lighthouse mariners would catch sight of as they passed through the Bahamas on their way to the ports on the Gulf of Mexico. When overcast skies hid the stars they navigated by, the lighthouse announced "Here I am, this is the way," allowing the navigators to guide their ships safely through the dark night. 

Light is a powerful theme of the Advent season. The wise men were led to the stable where Jesus lay, by the light of a bright star. The shepherds tending their flocks near Bethlehem were visited by an angel of the Lord who stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and the shepherds were greatly afraid. 

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied "By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." Jesus is, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the Word of His power. 

As we approach the Christmas holidays this year, we will experience the darkest day of our calendar year on Dec. 21 followed three days later by our celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. 

In these dark and uncertain times, many people are wandering in their own personal darkness. They are looking for a beacon of hope, a light for their path. In Acts 26.16 we read that Jesus sent Paul to the Gentiles to "open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." 

This Advent season, may Jesus send us to those wandering in darkness that they might finally find their way to Him "in whom there is no darkness at all." May we "let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. 

Merry Christmas from Steve and Alberta