Welcome to 2026. Welcome to your Year of Light!

As we step into this new year together, pause for a moment and think about what this means.
This isn’t just another year. This isn’t just another fresh start or a chance to set goals. This is the year God has called you to shine. To walk in the fullness of who you’ve become in Christ. To live as light in a world that desperately needs to see Him.

But before we talk about walking as light, we need to understand where this light came from. We need to understand the consecration of those who are light.

Many in our world today believe everything began from a big bang, that the universe somehow started on its own. But we know from scripture that all things were created by God. And not just created randomly, but created with purpose.

Genesis 1:26-28
New King James Version
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

When God made man in Genesis, He did something different. He created man in His own image, distinguished from every other creature. And more importantly, He created man for perfect communion with Him. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. There was no distance. No separation. No struggle to obey or stay devoted. Consecration wasn’t hard work; it was simply the natural state of being in God’s presence.
But then came the fall.

Genesis 3 reveals the moment when everything changed. Eve considered something outside the will of God. She ate. Adam ate. And for the first time, humanity fell out of perfect connection with God. Sin entered the world, and with it came a separation from the light of God’s presence.

Imagine what that must have felt like. One moment, perfect fellowship. The next, they were hiding from God in shame. The light was gone. The communion was broken.
This is the condition we were all born into. Separated from God. Walking in darkness.
But then, God did not leave us there.

John 1:4-5 declares,
New King James Version
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus came. Not just as a teacher or a prophet, but as the Light into a dark world. He came to do what we could never do for ourselves. He came to bridge the gap between us and God, to restore what was lost in Eden.

And the moment you believed in Christ, you didn’t just get your sins forgiven; You received the very light of God into your life. You were translated from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light. You are no longer bound by the fall. You are no longer defined by darkness. You have been made new.

But here’s what you need to understand: God didn’t just give you light. He made you light.

Matthew 5:14-16 is not a suggestion. It’s a declaration of who you are:
Matthew 5:14-16
New King James Version
14 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Read that again. “You are the light of the world!” Not that you’re trying to become light or you’ll be light if you work hard enough. You already ARE light because Christ lives in you. This is your identity. This is who you’ve become through salvation. Just as we see in scriptuure, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)

And now, the question is not whether you are light; the question is “Are you walking as light?”

Walking as light means living a life of consecration. It means being fully devoted to God in everything you do. It means allowing the light within you to shine through your daily choices, your actions, your words, your relationships, your work and every single area of your life.

Think about it this way: if you have a lamp in a dark room, you don’t cover it with a basket. That would defeat the purpose. The lamp was made to give light.
In the same way, you were made to shine. You were made to reflect God’s light to a world that’s still walking in darkness. But then, this doesn’t happen by accident. Walking as light requires consecration. It requires intentionality. It requires us to set ourselves apart for God’s purposes.

Even before Jesus came, we see men who understood this in the scriptures. Men like Noah and David.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and walked faithfully with God in a world full of rebellion. He remained consecrated when everyone around him had fallen away.
Daniel refused to stop praying even when it meant being thrown into a lion’s den. He had structure. He had discipline. He remained fully devoted to God no matter what the government said or what others did.

These men walked in the light they had, even before the fullness of Christ was revealed. How much more should we, who have received the full light of the gospel, walk in complete consecration?

So as we move in this Year of Light, ask yourself honestly:
Am I truly walking as the light I have become in Christ? Or have I been hiding my light under a basket?
Are there distractions or circumstances that I’ve allowed to dim my light and shake my commitment to God?
Have I fully laid down my time, my resources, my ambitions, my relationships at the altar of consecration?
Am I living in a way that makes people see God’s light in me?

These may not be comfortable questions. But they are necessary questions as we step into this year.

The world needs people who shine with God’s light. The world needs people who are so consecrated, so devoted, so filled with God’s presence that when others encounter them, they encounter the light.
That’s your assignment this year. Stand out. Spread. Transform!
That’s what it means to live in your Year of Light.
Consecrate yourself. Set yourself apart. Pursue God with everything you have.
Pray without ceasing, stay in God’s Word and walk in holiness.
Let it be that you give yourself to sharing the gospel boldly.
Live in a way that makes people stop and say, “Something is different about you”

You were created for communion with God. You were rescued from darkness. You have been made light. Now walk as light.
This is not a year for hiding. This is not a year for compromise. This is not a year for blending in with the world. This is your Year of Light, and God is calling you to shine.

Prayer Point
Father, thank You for the gift of salvation and for making me light in this world. In this year of light, help me to walk in complete consecration to You. Let my life shine brightly for Your glory, that others may see Your light in me and come to know You. Keep me devoted and keep me consecrated to your will.