Friday, December 10, 2010
Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
O ORIENS -- O RADIANT DAWN
O Come Thou Dayspring, from on high
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
I grew up with a paper route. I know what it is like to get up at five in the morning, to trudge through thick snow in blackest night in zero degree weather. Nothing in my life has ever been so beautiful as finally seeing the sun, feeling just the slightest bit of heat after two and a half or three hours in the snow and ice and darkness. This image may sometimes seem a bit over-used, but there is good reason for it.
In this prayer we remind ourselves that the night is indeed far spent, but the day is near at hand. We have been so long in the night of this world, that we often forget what our goal is, what our hope is, and what awaits us at the end of our journey. We might get frustrated because we seem to accomplish so little on this earth. We often feel the need "make something of our lives" and dedicating our lives to the task of God's kingdom seldom seems to qualify. Here we pray the Lord would remove the darkness from our sight, turn our eyes away from the evil and materialism of this world and refocus us once again on that glorious dawn, that wondrous place which is to come.
Lord Jesus Christ open my heart that I may no longer be blinded by sin and greed and materialism, but instead may find my joy in the light of Your salvation.
