"...the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace."
Luke 1:78b-79
What a sweet Christmas-season thought.
The Sunrise from on high did indeed visit our planet, long ago. But this prophecy still works in the future tense, because it's also an offer God has made available to every person on earth. Has Jesus, the Sunrise from on high, visited you? He wants to shine upon all people -- to shed His light on the darkness inside us, and guide our feet into the way of peace. A deep, holy, heart-transforming peace, not as the world gives. A peace that gives life.
Christmas is a season of contradictions. The overflow of the season is painfully hard on those who cannot share it, or who are lonely -- or both. Yet Jesus didn't come to bring superficial overflow: He came to bring Himself. To plant God deep inside us, that we might learn a new way of seeing and living and rejoicing.
Sweet Sunrise, shatter the defenses of our inner darkness. Guide our feet into Your deep way of peace, so that the world can finally see You as You are. Guide our feet to those who are lost in the shadows, that You may bring them light and life.
Only Your healing rays can illumine the human heart. Only You can make us free.