A Happy Epiphany! – let your light shine!
The Feast of the Epiphany, held on 6th January in the western Christian tradition, is the climax of the Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas. The day before Epiphany is the twelfth day of Christmas, commonly known as Twelfth Night. The 6th January, being the last day of Christmas, is traditionally the time to take down the Christmas trees and decorations around the home. Customs in other European countries, like Austria, see children dressed as the kings going from door to door singing carols.
Epiphany means “to show” or “to make known” or even “to reveal”. In the Christian calendar, it is when the Wise Men came to visit Jesus and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These wise men were the first Gentiles, or non-Jews, to acknowledge Jesus as “King”. Epiphany is therefore the “showing” or “revealing” of Jesus to the whole world. These three wise men (or there could have been more – three is commonly assumed because of the three gifts) saw a bright star on the night Jesus was born and followed it to Bethlehem to visit the infant Jesus.
Pray around this Epiphany-time for a real world vision: that people of all cultures, nationalities and backgrounds may find their Saviour in Jesus Christ.