On each Sunday of this Lenten season and on Good Friday and on Easter, one of the devotions from Lenten Lights will be posted here — a total of eight devotional readings.

Each reading begins with a few sentences that summarize the thought for the day. All the rest is Scripture — letting God speak to us directly from his Word.

Some people use each devotion as it is posted weekly. Others save them up and use them daily in the last days leading up to Easter. And if you choose, it also can be used together with seven candles, representing the Light of the World.

Reading Weekly

There is one reading for each Sunday of Lent and for Good Friday and Easter.

Reading Daily

Daily use should begin on the Saturday of Palm Sunday weekend. This leaves Saturday, the day before Easter, with no devotional, a reminder of the emptiness experienced by Jesus’ followers between his death and resurrection.

Without Candles

These pages may be used simply for personal or family reading and meditation in preparation for Easter. In that case, please ignore the bracketed candle instructions within each reading.

With Candles

The readings may also be used in conjunction with any grouping of seven candles. On the first day, all seven should be burning as you begin reading the first devotional. Bracketed instructions within the reading tell you when to snuff out one candle. During the second devotional reading, six candles burn as you begin reading, and you snuff out one of them when instructed, and so on. On Good Friday, the last candle is extinguished. Then on Easter, there are instructions within the reading to light all seven candles.

The Symbolism of the Seven Candles

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). But for a while it seemed as if the darkness was overcoming — for a long while.

The seven candles symbolize the Light of the World — the Light that was God’s glory and that illuminated God for us — the Light that, in the end, seemed to have been darkened. As we move through the season preceding Easter, the candles are snuffed out one by one, until all are dark on Good Friday, when Jesus died and the earth was covered with shadow. Darkness apparently had won. The Light of the World had been extinguished. It was finished.

But NO! Easter brings resurrection! Life! Return from death! The Light has won and all the candles burn as we praise him — the Light of the World, the Bright Morning Star, the Glory of God.