He is Risen #4- Lights

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”- John 1:5

I adore Noel Piper's traditions and we use many of them in our homes to point to Jesus. One we are starting this year as a family this year is her "Lenten Lights". It's a good way to sober our hearts to look at our own sin, repent, and turn to Christ and to prepare to remember the horrible death of Jesus. THEN, we will celebrate that He rose again and brought life for us.

The Pipers light 7 candles and then each week during the lenten season they read a family devotional and snuff out one light, leaving the last to be snuffed out on Good Friday.

Here's a quote from "Lenten Lights":
Your seven candles symbolize the Light of the World—the Light that was God’s glory and that illuminated God for us—the Light that, in the end, seemed to have been darkened. As we move through the season preceding Easter, the candles are snuffed out one by one, until all are dark on Good Friday, when Jesus died and the earth was covered with shadow. Darkness apparently had won. The Light of the World had been extinguished. It was finished.  But NO! Easter brings resurrection! Life! Return from death! The Light has won and all the candles burn as we praise him—the Light of the World, the Bright Morning Star, the Glory of God.
We are adapting it since our kids are small and lent is a long time for them to track with us. So, we are starting Saturday, April 16th and reading the devotional each evening after dinner (with candles lit to snuff out one more each night) through Good Friday. Easter Sunday all 7 candles will be relit to remind us that the "Light of the World" has come and shone in the darkness. We have good reason to rejoice!

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