Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

God's goodness to us is sweet to our souls. His life-giving word is "sweeter than honey" (Ps. 19:10) and we are encouraged to "taste and see, the Lord is good.'' (Ps. 34:7)

Thinking of how a relationship with Him grows more delightful as the years go by, we might think of the sweetness of a candy cane. There are several legends regarding the origin of the Christmas candy cane. One of them is as follows: "In Indiana, a candy maker wanted to make a candy that could be a reminder of Jesus Christ, so he made the Christmas candy cane.

He started off with a stick of pure white hard candy. The white color symbolized the virgin birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and the hard candy symbolized the solid rock which was the foundation of the church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candy maker made the candy in the form of a J, which represented the name of Jesus and the staff of the Good Shepherd. He then stained it with three stripes which showed the scourging Jesus received, and symbolized the blood shed by Christ on the cross.

When you break the cane, it reminds us that Jesus' body was broken for us." This legend highlights for us the truth conveyed in a song: "Sweeter as the years go by, sweeter as the years go by. Richer, fuller, deeper, Jesus' love is sweeter, sweeter as the years go by".

Pastor Greg Brownell

United Brethren Church