Song Stories: Season of Light
(In this latest blog series, I am sharing the stories behind some of my original recorded music. I hope you enjoy hearing the songs and reading the background behind each one. This month I'm sharing some original Christmas songs. I invite you to share this song and my blog page with your friends )
http://chrisatkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Season-of-Light.mp3
Thousands of people saw the brilliant, tremendous star shining in the sky over the Middle East sometime around 2 or 3 BC. That star functioned like a compass, pointing to a little town named Bethlehem, some distance away from Jerusalem. The point of that star-compass led directly to a rough-hewn animal manger that held the newborn Jesus. Again, many people stared at that star and pondered its significance. Yet only a handful of people followed the compass-star to the tiny stable where the Jesus, Emmanuel—God-with-us—lay.
The Bible tells, in vivid detail, the stories of those few people who saw the star and came to the stable. But I often wondered what happened to those who saw the star and didn’t follow it? Did any of them later encounter Jesus? I think it is reasonable to think some of them did!
So, I decided to write a song-story entitled “Season of Light” about 2 young men who saw the star shining over Bethlehem and chose NOT to follow it. The first verse recounts their experience with the star as they traversed though the desert, and how they walked the other way.
In the 2nd verse the scene fast forwards to a few decades later when these same men encountered Jesus in his earthly ministry. When they met Him, they heard Jesus say, “I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth”. The men saw the light of God in his eyes— brighter than the star they witnessed years earlier. This time they followed Jesus, the Light of the World.
In the last verse the scene moves ahead 3 years, when the 2 dejected men walked away from Jerusalem a few days after witnessing Jesus’ horrendous death on a cross. They felt lost and hopeless as they walked down the road on route to a place called Emmaus. The story continues as a man approaches them and walks with them, revealing how the Scriptures had to be perfectly fulfilled in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross for the sins of all people. When this same man later took bread and broke it, the men’s eyes were opened to see this was in fact Jesus— risen from the dead and alive! Jesus, The Way, the Truth, and the Life, had overcome sin, darkness, and death. His light shines on and through all who come to Him in this brand-new season of light.
My hope in writing this song was to point people to Jesus Christ through creatively weaving key scriptures together. Although the men in my song are a creative compilation of different people in the Bible, the passages are real and true. Here are three scripture passages I encourage you to read:
Luke chapter 2 (The account of Jesus’ birth)
John chapter 14, verse 6 (Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and The Life)
Luke chapter 24, verses 13 through 35 (The 2 men on the road to Emmaus)
The message of “Season of Light” is more than history; it can be our story! I hope this song brings home the message that even if we have walked away from God, He never gives up on us and always, faithfully offers us a new life and future in the person of Jesus Christ.
God bless you this Christmas season!
Chris Atkins
(here are the lyrics to “Season of Light”)
Season of Light
Words and Music by Christopher J. Atkins© 2003. All rights reserved.
Walking through the desert
Tired and worn out beyond all measure
We moved ahead like people in a dream
A star in the sky beckoned
“What does it mean?” we stood and reckoned
Shining in the sky like a glory stream
But we turned around and walked the other way
Allowed the God who made the star
To just take it away
The star shone and then faded
The years past and our hearts grew jaded
Just like the godly dreams of our youth
Darkness gripped like a cancer
Until the day I found the answer
In a man who said “I’m the Way, the Life, and the Truth”
He said “Come to me, you’ve strayed from God so far”
When I looked in His eyes I saw the light
Brighter than that star
Chorus:
This is the season of light
The time to turn from darkened blindness
To the brightness of God-given sight
The answer to your hunger
For God’s Kingdom, power, and might
Is before you now
In the season of Light.
We walked away from the city
The day He died on the cross beyond all pity
Our hopes and dreams were killed before our eyes
The third day we were walking
We met a man who heard us
He started talking
He said, “The Son of God had to suffer, die, and rise”
When He broke the bread, I knew that it was He—
He filled my heart with the heavenly light
Of God’s risen glory
Chorus:
This is the season of light
Time to turn from darkened blindness
To the brightness of God-given sight
The answer to your hunger
For God’s Kingdom, power, and might
Is before you now
In the season of Light.
The season of Light.