Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Isaiah 60:20

Recently, General Electric dug up a time capsule at its Nela Park facility.

When the 100-year-old time capsule was opened, there was a copy of a newspaper, The Plain Dealer, dated March 21, 1912. There was a photograph of five, very proud and dignified-looking men: General Electric's board of directors at that time. There were also five incandescent light bulbs.

One of the bulbs was full of water; one of the bulbs had condensation on the inside, but three of the bulbs looked pretty good. Taking a risk, the folks at the time capsule's opening took one of the bulbs and screwed it in. There was rejoicing all around. The bulb still did what it had been designed to do: it gave light.

Thinking of that little light bulb I tried to imagine all the changes the world has seen since it was carefully placed in its resting place 100 years ago.

Humanity has seen two world wars. We have survived a dust bowl and a global depression. We have seen the rise and fall of empires, an eruption of major advancements in technology and medicine. We have even sent men to the moon.

Yes, some things have changed in those 100 years, and some things have not.

The craftsmen whose skilled hands built those bulbs are gone now. The folks who celebrated when the time capsule was placed have all left us. Even those five wealthy, well-dressed men on GE's board of directors have had to say their earthly goodbyes.

No, some things don't change.

This is why you and I should rejoice that the Lord's Light is still doing His job. Almost 2,000 years ago the body of Jesus of Nazareth was placed into a grave, a time capsule, of sorts. By human law, He should have stayed there. But He didn't. Three days after His burial, Jesus came out of that time capsule and showed to all that He was the Light of the world.

Because of Jesus we were freed from darkness. Because of Him we were moved into the light. Because of Him the dark grave had lost its terrible hold on our souls.

In Jesus God's light shone into our darkness.

That is cause for rejoicing all around. God's Son had brought light to our dark world.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, this sinful world has much that is dark. I give thanks Your Son has provided the light, which dispels that darkness and illuminates my life. May I give thanks for the brightness of Your love. In Jesus' Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Joshua 16-18    Luke 11:1-28

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