Today, as we come to light the fourth candle, we are meditating on the wonder of the miracle of Hanukkah.
We are kindling this light to commemorate the wonders, miracles and saving acts that God performed in ancient times for our forefathers.
In those days, as well as today, as God’s people gather to honor Him we consider that these lights are holy in that they are a symbolic way to offer up our thanks and praise to our Great God for His miracles and the wonder of Salvation that He has given to all of mankind. It is as if the flames of the candle are sending our prayers of adoration before God.
Two scriptures come to mind; the first being from Luke 11:34; The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, the whole body also is full of light; but when the eye is evil, the body also is full of darkness.
This passage talks about the intentions of our hearts toward God and toward our fellow-man. It is the eye that lets the light in so that we may see. When our eyes are focused on the good things of God our whole spiritual being is filled with light. When our eyes are focused on evil and wicked and perverse things; our whole spiritual being is filled with darkness.
The world longs and waits on those who would come forth as missionaries of the light of Christ and bring forth the Good News of The Gospel. It is the Gospel of Christ that helps us to see the best.
Long before the coming of Christ; the great miracle of the light of Hanukkah was also to help us to see.
Those early worshipers of God SAW, as we do today; that He was a God of miracles.
Yet; there is even MORE to see during these days in which we live.
When we light the Hanukkah candles we use the tallest candle, the servant candle, to bring the light to all the others one at a time for one day at a time; and with this act we think of Christ and how God gave Him to the world to save us from our sins.
A King came as a servant to serve us in order to bring the light of God into the world.
It is a great miracle.
It is an eye-opening miracle that brings light into the soul.
We come to the second scripture that we are meditating upon. It can be found in Acts 26:18; To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are unsanctified by faith that is in me.
Having the light; the concern is to use it for sight.
Why would we be living in light and not see?
I am not sure how people can do this; but they do.
The author of the scripture passage also lived that way for a while. You see, it is the Apostle Paul who is speaking and this scripture was the one He recorded just shortly after being blinded on the road to Damascus; where he met Jesus who healed his sight and also gave him clear spiritual insight.
Paul would never be the same again. He knew darkness; then He knew light. He knew living for evil and Satan; and he made a complete turn around and began living for Jesus. On the road to Damascus God opened his eyes with the Light of Christ.
Now he could see clearly where before everything had been muddled and unclear, or completely dark.
What a change!
What a miracle!
A lot like the great miracle of the light of the first Hanukkah.
Today there are many who are living in darkness.
Many do not see the obvious works of God all around them. They see and use evil instead of the true things from God; those things which are good and help us to live.
The light of the soul is its understanding and judgment and its power to discern between good and evil, truth and lies.
God has given us great light!
Christ has come!
Let us open our eyes to see!
Brothers and sisters be sincere in your seeking of truth and be ready to receive it in the light and love and power of God, not in the same way of the men of this generation to whom Christ preaches who never sincerely desire to know God’s will.
There are many living, even right now, who are deceiving others and pulling them away from the Kingdom of God. Just as Paul was doing before He was totally changed and began living for Christ.
No wonder so many walk in darkness.
To walk in the light, we must display pure truth.
When I was a young girl I was very active in a missions group called Acteens. There I made many lifelong friends and enjoyed attending summer camp with them each year. We had a lot of fun, and we learned a lot about life and living in the Kingdom of God together.
We learned about the message of the Light of Christ.
Way back then the Acteens had a theme song which is an old hymn. That old hymn comes to mind as I light the fourth candle at Hanukkah.
It seems so relevant to the message we have presented in the meditations. I did not even understand Hanukkah back then; but the theme of the message was still hidden inside my heart by many of the things that we did in Acteens.
It was (and is) a message of truth and light!
The words of this old theme song still reside inside my heart and they seem even more significant now that I know the stories of the truth of Hanukkah. The lyrics and music were written by H. Ernest Nichol. His lyrics are:
We’ve a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light, a story of peace and light.
Refrain:
For the darkness shall turn to the dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright, and Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth, the kingdom of love and light.
We’ve a song to be sung to the nations, that shall lift their hearts to the Lord, a song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword, and shatter the spear and sword. (Refrain)
We’ve a message to give to the nations that the Lord who reigns above has sent us His Son to save us, and show us that God is love, and show us that God is love. (Refrain)
We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow has trod, that all of the world’s great peoples may come to the truth of God; may come to the truth of God. (Refrain)
How wonderful to find a tune of love and light buried within the confines of your heart today on the fourth day of Hanukkah! It just feels very appropriate and I know God is smiling.
Let those who know Christ and worship the One True God go forth and proclaim the message of His truth and light to all the earth.