Daily Devotions
If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
The children from the church Sunday school were making their presentation of the Christmas story.
All had gone well with the service, until … there is always an “until” in the children’s Christmas worship. All had gone well, until they reached that point in time when they wanted to show the holiness of the newborn Savior. Mary and Joseph looked suitably significant. The shepherds had hit their marks and were on their knees in a position of worship. That was when the student who controlled the lights was to turn everything off and, at the same time, turn one light on.
That one light he turned on was a small bulb placed in the manger. It would have been most impressive.
Now you know what was supposed to happen. Unfortunately, the boy in control of the switches turned everything off, but he didn’t turn the one light on. The worshippers sat in stunned silence. Finally, one of the shepherds whispered in a way the entire church heard. He said, “Hey! You turned off Jesus!”
For the boy, switching off Jesus was an accident.
That is not the case for many individuals who have deliberately and defiantly switched off the Savior, who gave His life so repentant, believing humanity might have eternal life.
For me it is like someone refusing the only medicine that can cure a disease. It is like seeing a drowning man push away the life preserver that has been thrown to save him. It is like a person dying of thirst declining to drink from the cool, life-giving water that has been placed into his hands.
No, that’s wrong. Turning off the Savior is far worse than those things. It is worse because the consequences of all those actions are temporary. When a person turns off the light of the Savior in their lives, the results are both damning and they are eternal.
Now we could just remain concerned about the folks who don’t know the Savior. But the Lord has not told us to stop with being concerned. He has asked us to do our best to share Jesus’ story of salvation with others. That is the job of all Christians, churches and, of course, Lutheran Hour Ministries.
By God’s grace, if we do as we have been asked, the Holy Spirit will illuminate today’s dark hearts and less and less we will hear, “Hey! You turned off Jesus!”
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, send Your Holy Spirit into the hearts of the lost. Grant that they may see the dangers of not having Jesus shine within them. In the Savior’s Name I ask they see the Savior’s light. Amen.