Star of Wonder, Star of Night

In past posts, I have talked about the scripture in Genesis, where God speaks to Abraham and tells him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

Psalm 174: 4

He determines the number of stars; He gives to all of them their names.

Those stars were us - the ones that God pointed out to Abraham.  No, we aren't literally gaseous balls of fire, but we were planned and are known by God, just like it is described in the Psalms.  

And then in the gospels, we read about the bright star shining in the sky.  The one that led the wise men to Jesus.  The one that inspired Christmas hymns.  The one that often adorns our Christmas trees.

What was that star?  Why did God choose to put it there?  The star stood out above all the rest.  It could be noticed, because it was bright - it made it easy for travelers to follow.

We were stars placed in the sky.  We were placed as a part of a family.  We were sons and daughters of God.  And on the night that Jesus was born, God placed another Son in the sky among us.  The star was made up of the same matter as the other stars, just as Jesus was human.  However, there was something different about that star.  Something not of this world.  Something unlike the other stars.

We have always been a part of God's family, but we often fall away.  We distance ourselves, we become like strangers.  We estrange ourselves from the family.  Then God sent a sibling to live among us.  One who had been living in perfect Unity with the Father.  One who could tell us about the Father, and how His heart longed for our return.  He would bring with Him the offer of adoption back into the family - to lay the things of the world aside.  Jesus came like a bright and radiant star in the midst of dark night, so that the other fading stars could have their light restored and be held in their place by the hands of God.

Merry Christmas!

~SP