We’ve officially entered the Christmas season.

I know it seems like it started a long time ago, since Costco starts selling Christmas decorations in July. But now that Thanksgiving is behind us, and Black Friday is done, and Cyber Monday is over, we can really say: it’s the Christmas season!
There’s lights going up on homes. Music playing in every store. Christmas trees on top of Accords.

But here’s the thing. This time of year we call the Christmas season? With decorations, songs, shopping, and Gingerbread Latte’s? It’s only been around for about 100 years. Before that, we celebrated Advent. It was a time of fasting, and penitence and somberness. Waiting for the Messiah.

Most of us have never dreamed of doing something like that during the Christmas season. But when the prophet Isaiah looked forward to the arrival of Jesus, he said, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9). You don’t appreciate the light of Christ until you can see that you’re in the darkness.

So this Christmas season, don’t just be dazzled by the lights. Take some time to be aware of the darkness. Ask God to point out the sin in your life, and then praise him for the gift of his son, who swallowed up the darkness with the light of his grace on the cross.