Get Your Shine On

 

Toni M. Babcock

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you. For look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples, but the LORD will shine over you, and his glory will appear over you.” Isaiah 60:1-2 CSB.

Friend, there is no better time than this Christmas to let Jesus shine for family and friends with a message of hope and salvation. 

Believer! Our light has come! 

Christ died for our sins and rose again, and indwells us with His holy presence — so now He has become the light within. 

Praise God! Because this is the case, we would do well not to get tangled up in a lot of energy-sucking self-imposed Christmas ‘have to do’s’ while forgetting to let our light shine.

 
I’ve managed to escape some of this seasonal hoopla for several years now by setting up a ready-made tree I can lift out of a storage space with one hand, place on top of a small table and decorate in a few minutes. 

KAZAAM! Happy holidays on a stick. 

I know it’s not for everyone – but along with hanging a couple wreaths and a string a lights around a window, it works for me. 

Don’t misunderstand. 

It’s not that I don’t enjoy all the holiday glitz and glam. 

I admit, it’s fun to oohh and ahhh at other people’s decorations. 

It’s just more fun to go home and thank heaven I don’t have all that stuff to put away.

 
So, as I approach the New Year, I’m thinking about ways I can make Jesus shine in the world. 

Now there’s a project I don’t mind investing a lot of heart and soul in. It’s the reason I’m writing this devotional, and my shine list is just getting started. 

Plus, it’s a lot more fun than untangling all those strings of Christmas lights.

Toni is author of Reflections from the Heart in Light of the gospel of Jesus, and The Stone Writer, Christian Fiction for Young Readers and Teens. Contact