Decorating a home for Christmas is an important part of greeting the holiday season, and the celebration begins when the boxes come up from the basement or down from the attic. The process readies us for a party that will honor the most important birth of all time, and each decoration is a reminder of that.

My favorite is the lights. Jesus came to bring eternal light to all of us, which is our connection to the warm glow of a Christmas tree or the lights outside on our bushes.

But in January, the dismantling begins, and in these last days I’ve put everything back into the basement bins for another year. The house looks half-naked now, which is why I left a little something in place a while longer: the lights.

“What do you think of winter-white lights on the mantle?” I said to Birgitta. We nestled them in an evergreen garland and will enjoy them till spring.

What is it about a string of tiny, low-watt light bulbs that attracts us? Maybe it’s that the presence of light equates to an absence of darkness. Or maybe they’re a cheerful influence when winter’s long nights threaten to tug us down. Or maybe a string of lights on a mantle simply warm us internally when icy winds blow outside.

In the Bible Jesus refers to himself as “the light of the world.” (John 8:12) He follows this statement by explaining that he’s referring to salvation and the eternal life it brings, which is an escape from eternal darkness.

But he also brought all kinds of other light when he came: the light to our pathways, the light of understanding, the light of fellowship with others, the light of living righteously, the light of forgiveness, and the light of freedom. But that isn’t all.

Amazingly, partnering with Jesus somehow transforms us into light-giving beings, too. How this happens and what it means remains a mystery, but as we believe it, we’re blessed by it.

The way I see it, Jesus as the Light comes to us, offering to make us children of light, while lighting our paths, which lead to the light of eternity. Although I don’t understand it, I do know it’s very cool.

But as with every blessing God delivers, he wants us to pass it along. After he lights us up, we’re to shine for him. As we used to sing in Sunday school, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

In light of all that light, my string of mantle-lights doesn’t amount to much. But maybe the underlying reason I love Christmas lights so much is that their steady glow sheds a little more light on the True Light and why he came. If so, maybe I should leave them plugged in and shining all year long.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)