As a parole officer, (before I was a pastor), I would often go into spiritually dark places. Sometimes it would be into bars trying to find someone or it would be into homes that were not really homes. Sometimes, it would be to visit or interview someone in jail or prison. The darkness was so great and is so great in so many lives. Just today there has been much evil, much darkness in our world. Terrible things have happened today; and today is no worse than yesterday, or the day before.

God knew that that there would be evil, that there would be darkness - He knew. That is why Jesus came to be born in a manger. That is why God Himself came down from the glories of Heaven to walk upon this earth in flesh. He came and suffered in our place so that light could come into the darkened and near death lives of the people on Planet Earth.

If you have ever worked all night, the sun is such a welcome sight. The sun, as it arises, seems to give new strength and chases the darkness away. In Luke 1:78, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, calls the unborn Jesus the "Dayspring." Jesus is the "Dayspring" that will chase away the darkness just as does the rising sun. In Malachi, Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness.

Have you been in the darkness, sitting in the shadow of death itself? Why not let the "Dayspring" forth in your life and allow the Sun of Righteousness to bring new light, new life into your heart.