Lessons From My Easter Tree

Call me crazy, but I just did not want to take down my Christmas tree this year!  It was a new tabletop one that fit perfectly in front or our lovely living room window.  The lights made the room bright and made my heart happy!!  As I was taking down the rest of decorations, I told my husband I wanted to keep it up!

So, I did!

I decided that I would have a seasonal tree, not just a Christmas tree!  While I did not make the transition from a Christmas tree to Valentine’s Day tree, I did make the transition to an Easter Tree!  The sweet and colorful symbols of Easter are happy and bring smiles!  The crosses, including the one on top, remind me daily of the sacrifice of our Lord.  The tree points upwards toward heaven; the source of my life, breath and meaning.

And of course, the lights!  “Jesus is the Light of the World!”  John 8:12, “ Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”   This is one of the names for Jesus that resonates with me the most.  Maybe because I lived so many years in darkness, hiding a life of despair and pain.  Maybe because I was afraid of the dark as a little child.  Weren’t many of us?  Maybe, because I know how very dark and cruel this life can be without the light of Christ illuminating the way.  Maybe, because I have learned that healing and wholeness come when:

• my pain
  • and wounds
    • and bitterness
      • and sorrow
        • and fears
          • and scars
            • and sins

are brought to Light of the World - not held in the secret place of my mind, memory, or heart.  Then He does what He does best!  He weeps with me!  He reassures me that I was never alone in these dark times and places; that His presence and love were there protecting me from even more harm or pain.  He shows me the brokenness in the person who hurt me, so I can more readily forgive and move forward.  He heals.  He forgives me for the mistakes I made that brought on the darkness.  And He challenges me to move forward with Him into His light and love.

John 8:12 goes on to tell us that, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  Since repenting years ago of the years living without God in my life, I have never wanted to go back to that darkness and have cultivated the “light of Christ” in my life.  I pray to be a light to those around me.  I encourage those in my life, those I coach, and any with whom I can to bring their own pain to the Light!!  For only in the light will true healing and wholeness come.

Bible Gateway indicated that there are 276 results for “light” in Scripture.  The Old Testament contains 189 of those references.  They are most referring to light, in its natural form.  However, some scriptures use light as an attribute of God.

Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom should I fear?  The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom should I dread?”

Psalm 36:9  “For the fountain of life is with You; In Your light we see light.”

Psalm 97:4 “Light is sown like seed for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.”

Nehemiah 9:12 “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.”

All these references, and more, are forshadowing of the the Son of Man who would on day coem to earth to be the "Light of the Worlds"

At some level, in my new home, in a new city, in the middle of a pandemic, during a Christmas season when no one saw our tree except Scott and I, those sparkling lights symbolized for me all that the “Light of World”, Jesus, has meant to me and done for me in my journey with Him.

John 8:12, “ Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

It is no wonder, that this year, I did not want to hide those lights in the basement until another Christmas rolled around.  Those lights are going to shine--all year long!!  They are now proclaiming the greatest love that this world has ever known!  A love that left the throne of heaven,

• came to earth as a human - in all its limitations,
  • lived a sinless life while revealing to us the truest nature of the Father,
    • and endured the most humiliating of all deaths, death on a cross,
      • bearing ours sins that we may never again have to be separated from God,
        • And finally rising again in the most brilliant light of all - Resurrection!

Seeking and following this Light is the greatest joy and the greatest task set before me each day. But as  Nehemiah proclaims, it is this light that also shows me the way I am to go.

Prayer:

Thank you, Father, for being my God and having rich plans for me, for all of us, through out the seasons of the year and the seasons of our lives. Thank you for sending the “Light of World” to us, leading us from darkness into your glorious light.