December Daily: Legend of the Candy Cane

A Candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would help us remember who Christmas is really about. So he made a Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus. Hard candy to symbolize the solid rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the name of Jesus. It also represented the staff of the "Good Shepherd".

The candymaker then included red stripes. He used three small stripes and a large red stripe to represent the suffering Christ endured at the end of his life.

The candy became known as a Candy Cane - a decoration seen at Christmas time. The meaning has faded, but still gives joy to children young and old, whom Jesus loves and treasures.

I realize this "legend" is probably just that - a legend. But it's an interesting story, and we're using it this weekend as a witnessing tool. At 10:00 this morning, our church family will be going out on the street - in below-freezing weather! - to hand out tracts and candy canes.

Wes ordered 1200 Candy Cane tracts from Bearing Precious Seed Canada. Each tract contains the above legend, followed by a presentation of the Gospel. We plan to give each tract with a candy cane, and hopefully get to talk to some people also. We've found that handing out literature of any kind (tracts and flyers) concerning our church brings us into more contact with people than any other method we use. Our people are excited about it; this is something everyone can do - just offer a candy cane to anyone who walks by!

Does your church have a special focus on evangelism at Christmas? What kind of things do you do, either personally or with your church, to help reach people with the Gospel at Christmas?