2nd night of Hanukkah

Today's verses that is read with the lighting of the 2nd candle:

Psalm 18:38-
"For You light my lamp; the Lord my G- d illumines my darkness." 

These are dark times...all we have to do is to watch, read or go online and see the news, and if we are not careful, that darkness could swallow us up. But yet we have a hope and a way to go through all this darkness. That is because God is with us and gives us light to be able go through the darkest of times. During the Second World War, King George VI in his Christmas speech, gave words that we as believers would be wise to incorporate into our lives: "Go out into darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."  How often we need a reminder that we don't have to go though things by ourselves, that we have someone that carries us through the toughest times and gets us through to the other side-and how often do we forget.

The other verse that branches off the above quote is Psalm 27:1-
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?"

I love where the Psalmist wrote that the Lord is our salvation...during this time of the year, we get so consumed with everything else that many forget that this is the time for celebrating the salvation given to us with the birth of the our Messiah in Bethlehem.  So many think that this time of the year is something that has to be endured-getting the right tree, getting the right present, having the relatives over; cooking the right meal, etc...and this is what happens when we lose focus on the real meaning of this time is, the giving of the greatest gift that God could give to us, eternal salvation. Is that not worth more than all the presents and gifts that we could buy combined....think about it, those presents will either tear, or fade or (especially in today's technological age) become obsolete, but eternal life-that NEVER ends and those of us who are believers will not only have a eternal home, but we will be in the presence and sharing it with the Lord who loved us enough to give us an opportunity to come there!

Light, salvation, so many gifts from a God who shows us mercy by giving us these things....how can we not praise Him for what He has given to us-not because He had to, but BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!