The Candle that Came Alive

A candle was created to carry a flame. A human spirit was created to carry the life of God. But what happens when the candle loses its light?

Samuel is a young man with dreams, opportunities, friendships, and a future full of possibilities. Yet, beneath the promise of a busy life, he begins to ask a question that success, money, pleasure, popularity, and achievement cannot adequately answer: What does it truly mean to be alive?

Through a meaningful conversation with his grandfather, Samuel discovers a powerful biblical picture of the human spirit. Proverbs 20:27 describes the spirit of a person as the candle of the Lord. But just as a candle is designed to carry a flame, the human spirit was created for a life that comes from God.

The story reveals how sin separated humanity from the glory of God, leaving people searching for fulfilment in places that cannot provide the life their spirits truly need. Samuel begins to understand why outward success cannot replace spiritual life, why religious activity alone cannot bring new birth, and why humanity needs more than self-improvement.

Then Samuel discovers Jesus Christ, the One in whom is life, and whose life is the light of humanity.

In The Candle That Came Alive, D. C. Lawrence Chinaka uses the simple but powerful metaphor of a candle to explain the message of being born again. Through colourful comic illustrations, relatable conversations, biblical truth, and practical life applications, young readers are introduced to the transforming significance of receiving Jesus Christ and beginning a new life in Him.

This engaging illustrated story explores essential truths, including:

• The Question of Life: Why outward achievements cannot satisfy the deepest needs of the human spirit.
• The Candle and Its Purpose: Understanding the biblical picture of the human spirit as the candle of the Lord.
• The Lost Light: Recognising humanity's separation from God through sin.
• The Search for Fulfilment: Discovering why money, fame, pleasure, popularity, and achievement cannot replace spiritual life.
• Jesus, the True Light: Understanding that Jesus came not merely to make us better people, but to give us life.
• The New Birth: Learning what it means to receive Jesus Christ and begin a new life through Him.
• Carrying the Light: Discovering how the life of Christ influences our choices, relationships, conduct, and witness to others.

The journey does not end when Samuel receives Jesus. His circumstances do not suddenly become perfect, and the challenges of school and everyday life remain. What changes is something deeper: Samuel begins to understand that he is no longer living merely by his own strength. He is learning to carry the life of Christ and allow that life to shape how he thinks, speaks, acts, and relates to others.

Designed especially for teens and young adults, this book is also a valuable resource for parents, teachers, mentors, Sunday school leaders, and Christian youth ministries. Its comic format makes important biblical truths accessible and memorable, while the accompanying Think About It, Talk About It, My Prayer, and My Stewardship Challenge sections encourage readers to reflect, ask questions, pray, and put their faith into practice.

At its heart, The Candle That Came Alive communicates a life-changing message: being born again is not simply becoming religious, adopting better habits, or trying harder to be good. It is receiving Jesus Christ and entering into the new life that only He can give.

You were created to carry the Light. You cannot produce that Life by yourself. You must receive it from its Source.

Will you continue searching for life in the things that cannot satisfy, or will you receive Jesus Christ, walk in His life, and carry His light into your world?

Discover Samuel's journey from searching to believing, from spiritual emptiness to new life, and from a candle without its flame to a life illuminated by Christ.

THE CANDLE THAT CAME ALIVE — Receive Jesus. Walk in His Life. Carry His Light.