Following the Star of Light

Verses:  Matthew 2:1-12

My thoughts about the verses:

Imagine what it would be like to see a bright star rising out of the sky.  A star brighter than anything you have ever seen.  You then remember that the promise came that a sign would appear to tell you the Messiah had been born.  Now take it one step further you decide that you must follow the star.  You must go and see for yourself the promised shepherd and King.

How many of us would leave everything and follow the star?  How many of us would accept the sign that had appeared in the sky?  How many of us would hesitate and see if there was some other reason for this star to appear?  Would we accept that the Messiah had been born?

It is amazing that these three men came from the east.  They were not in Bethlehem.  They had to travel from far away to see the promised Messiah.  It reminds me of the way the Hebrews were led out of Egypt.  They had to trust that the light that there were following would lead them to the Promised Land. 

We have to remember that God gives us all special directions in our life.  If we look closely we will see the path that God wants us to follow.  God may be calling us to reach out to the poor.  God may be calling us to feed and clothe the homeless.  God may be calling us to bring the word of God to the world so that people can find the peace and love of God. 

How do we know what God is calling us to do?  Is there a bright star that will guide our path?  Let us look at the end of this story.  The wise men were directed in a dream not to go and tell Herod where the Messiah was.  There was no great light guiding them.  Instead God came to them in the stillness to direct them to where they needed to do.

We need to listen not to what are mind is saying that we need to do.  Instead we need to be guided by our heart that is filled with the love of Jesus.  We have to stop and listen to the voice that is telling us what to do.  Sometimes we are shocked with where God wants us to go?

We often feel that we are right where we need because we think we have been directed by God.  Yet if we listen in the stillness we find that there is a different path for us to follow.  A calling that will lead us to a much greater reward.  We often come content where we are and in the process we do not grow.  We believe that we are exactly where God wants us.  Then God does something in our life to make us realize that there is a different calling on our life.

We realize that we have been listening to ourselves instead of God.  Once we accept what God wants out of our life things change forever.  No longer are we struggling with day to day issues.  Instead we start to see that we really were needed somewhere else. 

Is this not what the wise men discovered?  They were to return to the King and tell them where the Newborn King was located.  Yes they listened to the voice of God that came in their dream.  They knew not to go to Herod so they went a different way.  They listened to God and they insured that Jesus would live to become the Savior the world needed.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for your love.  We praise you God for your guidance.  We thank you for the gift of salvation.  Help us listen to you.  Help us to find that place of silence so that we can follow the path that you have in our life.  In the name of the Newborn King we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you listening to God?  Have you accepted the Messiah in your life?  Are you willing to follow the path that God has for your life?  Are you willing to change your path if God calls you to a new path?