2003-12-25 - The Star

Originally Published Christmas Day 2003

Matt 2:10 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. (NAS)

Ask someone to give you a list of things associated with Christmas and Jesus and the appearance of the star over Bethlehem will almost certainly be in that list. God had a plan nine centuries before Jesus' birth to take Daniel and his friends as captives to a far away land to the east. Daniel became a trusted member of the Kings court. The wisemen that arrived to give gifts to Jesus were guided by a star their distant descendants had been told of by Daniel. In those days, the appearance of a new star or a comet hailed an important event. These men were persons of importance. They had risked their lives to cross the distance following the star for likely more than a year to honor this child.

What star are you following? Do you have dreams and goals? It is very hard to reach a goal that is never set. If you have a goal, what are you doing to achieve that goal? The wisemen set their purpose to honor the newborn King. Their actions were to pack up and drive a caravan west and follow the star at great personal risk. Storms, bandits and robbers, food and water, and the difficulties of extended travel were against them. It would have been very easy to continue to observe the star from the comfort of their observatories and palaces. The importance of this event had not been lost on them or they would not have made the daunting trip. The local King had to be informed by his guests of the event.

The star had one purpose; to announce the birth of the Messiah to the world. The angels informed the shepherds and they left their flocks - their livelihood. The star appeared and only the wisemen from the east came, but they took serious risks to honor the announcement. Today, we are the star to the world. We have good days and tough days just like anyone else. But if we can stop and remember the star, which reminds us of the Messiah, then we will have the assurance that all is not lost. God controls the appearances of stars and He knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. And in all of the uncounted details of the universe that happen second by second He knows the number of the hairs on your head. He knows your hurts, failings and successes and is with you through all of them. That is worth announcing.

Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are downtrodden, ¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. " (NAS)

Grace & Peace,
Mike

jmhoskins@gmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org