DEVOTION / The Wandering Star
God’s awesome creation
Have you ever slept under the stars? What an awesome display of God’s creation! How many stars do you think you can see on a clear night? A galaxy is a group of heavenly bodies, like stars and planets and moons. In our Milky Way galaxy, there are estimated to be about 100 million stars. And that’s just one galaxy. Astronomers believe there could be as many as 10 trillion galaxies. That means there are about one septillion stars. (A one with 24 zeroes after it!) That is so awesome, we can’t even begin to imagine how vast the universe really is. As Psalm 147:4 says: “[God] determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”
A very special star
Our message today is about only one star, but it was an important one. A short time after Jesus was born, some star gazers or Magi who lived far away from Bethlehem saw an unusual star they had never seen before, and this star was moving. They decided to follow it to see where it would lead. They believed the star was a special sign that a new king was born. The star stopped over Jerusalem, so they asked the king there about the star. He had his aides search the Bible for an answer. This is what they found: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel. (Micah 5:2)
The Magi followed the star to Bethlehem, where it stopped over the house of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. They bowed down and worshiped their new King and gave him precious gifts.
A star for everyone!
There is something very special we learn about the Magi and that star. The wise men were not Jews; they were Gentiles, not of the Jewish people. God was telling the world that baby Jesus had come for all people, no matter what their race or background. His birth, death, and resurrection were meant for everyone. Paul assures us of this fact in Romans 3:29, Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too. Acts 28:28 speaks about this: I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen! How thankful we are that Jesus came for everyone. Now we will want to tell everyone! Isaiah 49:6 ends the discussion, I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. We can bring that light to everyone this Christmas season.
By Reynold R. Kremer