We can all be afraid of the dark!

Many of us will remember being scared of the dark as kids; we used to ask for a night light to be left on, or the light in the hallway, because we didn’t know what might happen in the darkness. Children have nightmares about monsters under the bed or ghosts appearing at night… but on this one day a year we like to dress up and celebrate the things which would normally terrify us!

Even as adults, we can sometimes feel scared of ‘the darkness’… frightened that dark things might happen to us or our families. The nightmares don’t always stop when we grow up, it’s just that the fears and anxiety changes. If we stop and think about the world today, it doesn’t take long before we realise that it’s pretty dark. News reports regularly remind us of the terrible things that are happening. It can be so easy to hear these stories and become fearful of the world we live in or the possibility that something might happen to us or our loved ones.

People love light!

During the winter months we long for the sun to make an appearance. As the days get longer, people tend to get happier and enjoy the later, lighter evenings. We love putting up lights at Christmas. When we drive around at night, we put our headlights on (hopefully!) so that we can see where we’re going. When there is light, darkness is removed.

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to take a photo when it’s dark outside, but it’s really difficult! The one thing that photographers rely on more than anything is light. The more light there is, the clearer and sharper the photo will be. Without the light, it’s hard to see what is in focus.

One of the highlights in many households at Christmas time is decorating the Christmas tree, and it usually begins with the lights! The fairy lights dotted around the tree are often the thing that brings the warmth and Christmassy feelings to the living room. The room is lit up and we start to feel happy!

It’s a decision we all need to make.

One of the reasons the world can seem so dark sometimes is because of sin. The Bible says that every single person is born in to sin and in to a sinful world, and it is sin that causes us to do bad things sometimes; things we might regret, things that might hurt others or hurt ourselves. We can all struggle with this and it can be difficult to try and live a good life when often it feels like our own lives are so dark.

It says in the Bible that Jesus is the ‘light of the world’. He came in to the world in order to put an end to all darkness. When he died for us, he took upon himself all sin and sickness, and took them to the grave with him.

But the good news is that he didn’t stay there! The Bible says that Jesus was raised from the dead and conquered all darkness and the amazing thing is that he did it all for you and for me. He doesn’t want us to live in darkness any more. He wants to take away our fear, worries and anxiety… our nightmares! When Jesus shines his light on our lives, all of a sudden everything comes in to focus. We start to realise why we were born, what our purpose is on this planet and what our destiny is. He gives us an exciting future, full of good things and full of light.

So, the question for us all is do we want to live a life that is full of light?!