Flooding Light!

I pray that your heart will be flooded with light. Ephesians 1:18a

Last Christmas, we babysat our four young grandsons so that their mom and dad could get a much-needed evening out. They also had some serious Christmas shopping to do. Putting four young boys to bed is a challenge, but oh, how I love the conversations we have when the lights are finally off, and we are giving them the last kiss goodnight. As usual songs were requested. Their first request was “My Old Kentucky Home,” but that one is not in my repertoire as I grew up in NY and not in Kentucky like their Daddy. Luckily for me, they settled for a song I could sing, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

As I sang it multiple times, the boys nestled into their blankets. Then, as I left the room, a small voice requested that I leave the door open just a bit so that some light from the Christmas tree could stream in. There is just something about twinkly Christmas lights which makes fear flee!

Light is one of those things that is hard to do without. I have had several friends who have either partial vision or no vision. And watching them navigate life without physical light has been hard to watch and even more challenging for them to do. Those who are sighted often take this precious gift of light for granted. Light makes life so much easier for us, it allows us to feel more secure, and it brings us a feeling of warmth on a cold, dreary day.

In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul writes these words, “I pray that your heart will be flooded with light.” I guess that Paul didn’t take light for granted. Remember what had happened on the Road to Damascus when Paul first met Jesus? Acts 9:3 tells us, “a light from heaven suddenly shown around him.” Paul had experienced what seeing the light meant. He knew what it was like to suddenly “be flooded” with light.

On that road to Damascus, Paul’s life had been turned upside down as he met Jesus. He was heading in one direction, but now that direction had changed completely. The light had been the tool God used to get Paul’s attention. And in that flooding of light, Paul had been forever changed.

Paul wanted everyone to know the life transformation that comes when God’s light-floods hearts. And so, Paul prayed for their hearts to be flooded with light.

Our hearts can be changed by the light as well. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

My prayer for you today as you walk thru the advent season is the same as the one Paul prayed over the Ephesian church, may your heart be flooded with light!