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The Simple, Uncluttered Message We were all excited to be out on our annual family Christmas-light drive through the nearby town. A light snow covering made the displays all the prettier: twinkling lights of reds, greens, blues; garlands of silver and gold; majestically decorated evergreens; beautiful Nativity scenes. The children were wide-eyed. "Dad, pull over quick! I want to read something," begged Whitney, our first-grader. I pulled the car over to the side of the street for a closer look. Suddenly, we had come upon a totally different scene. There across the front of a house, which was lit up with floodlights in the yard, were silhouetted letters spelling JESUS. No blinking lights, no bright colors, no fancy display--just the name JESUS. There was a starkness and a dignity about the display that spoke louder than all the other light shows we had seen. Whitney began to spell out each letter, "J-E-S-U-S. That spells Jesus." And she proceeded to tell her younger sisters about Him. On the radio, we heard, "Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright...." A hush filled the car as we all felt touched by the nearness of Him.
Like the wise men of old following the star that first Christmas, we had
been out looking, too. And in the midst of the bright lights and
glitter, we found the simple and uncluttered word JESUS reminding us of
God's gift of love, born on a quiet night more than two thousand years
ago. background by Cathye |