Did you get up this morning at dayspring?  I’m guessing you may be a bit baffled.  What exactly is dayspring?   To us it’s an archaic word, but it simply means dawn, daybreak, the first appearance of light before sunrise.  The use of the word goes back to the 14^th century.

We find it in Scripture.  “Hast, thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place?” Job 38:12  King James Version

Sometimes the dayspring is translated as the dawn or the morning star.   “I Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.  I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”  Revelations 22:16

Jesus is this dayspring who brings light into our darkness.  “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  John 1:4-5

Jesus, with his unconditional love, is our light.  He breaks the darkness of night.  He disperses the gloomy clouds in our lives.  He even removes the dark shadows of death.   Now that’s cause for rejoicing. 

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight. *

This Advent season, I pray that you will allow His light to penetrate every part of your heart and life more fully than ever before.

Judy

*O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Text Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, Koln, 1710;  Music French processional, 15^th century