Christmas is Light
When we think on the Christ child at this Christmas season, we remember the tender story surrounding his birth. Many of the story’s elements are symbolic of the gospel principles we try to cultivate in our lives.
We are reminded that we are all innkeepers. We try to warmly welcome in the Savior with all our hearts rather than renting him a single room. Hopefully he has come in to lodge as a permanent guest and not as an itinerant traveler.
The shepherds were humble men who, while keeping watch over their flocks, did not hesitate to put their business aside to go with haste and find the babe. From them we learn when to put our own temporal affairs aside and seek the more spiritual.
We remember the wise men from the east who searched out the Son of God. These were spiritually sensitive men who came to worship the King. After much searching, inquiry, and effort, they found Him. Truly, wise men still seek Him.
These magi presented treasures to the Christ child that were offerings from their hearts and hands. The gifts they bore were their very best. When we offer a gift to the Savior from our hearts it is our very best.
Light also abounds in this simple story. In many instances the symbol of light was chosen to herald the Savior’s birth:
The prophet Samuel predicts of the great lights in heaven where a day, a night, and a day would be as if it were one day and no night…and it shall be the night before He is born.
Samuel also tells of a new star that shall appear “such an one as ye have never beheld.”
The shepherd witnessed the light of the Lord’s glory as it shone round about them in their fields.
The wise men were directed by the light of the new star in the east, that went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was.
The light of Christ is both real and symbolic. We see it in the faces of each other and those who have come to accept His gospel. We are anxiously engaged in bringing this light to people in the Lord’s kingdom. We wish you a sweet and joyous holiday season and may your lives be filled with his light.
Christmas Stories 