A Closer Look at the Star

   They followed the star in the east...the three wise men will be portrayed by thousands of little children this Christmas in pageants across the land. In royal purple and gold, emerald green and silver, ruby red and gold costumes bearing gifts these mysterious Kings will traverse across platforms and down center aisle’s to the minor melodic tune of “We Three Kings.”

    Could these three great Kings of orient speak a message to the seekers of the truth today? Do they call from ancient bible story to the modern reader to look up beyond personal accomplishment, and ability to seek something greater than facts, something bigger than reason?

    Sitting in church today the preacher said, “We were never meant to be the star of the show.” Hmmm I thought, he is right and yet how many times have I tried to be. How many hours, how many days, how many years of my life have been spent trying to be good enough to be labeled “’the star.”

   It is hard to live for God without having a mental checklist to attend to, to rate yourself by. Read my bible (check), prayer for world peace (check), drive through traffic to get a last minute Christmas item without yelling at other drivers----

    If I really put down the checklist and follow the Star like the Wise men did, will it lead me to the Savior? To follow such a star meant they had to put down their own plans. They had to be willing to go on a quest into unknown territory to find a promise their hearts had always longed for.

I don’t know about you but I long for the promises my heart cries out for: Peace, Love, and Joy. I see these words printed on Candles and pillows in retail stores. But such items can’t touch the real ache inside to find the treasure at the other end of the Star.

    So who or what is the Star? Did the Wise men know? Or did they just decide to set out, to find out, to discover for themselves a truth that had risen in the East? A mystery gleaming high above from the heavens beckoned their wild at heart spirits to go, and not empty handed, but bearing gifts.

   I have heard the most treasured things in life will cost you everything, and yet they are worth everything you have to give. Where does our treasure lie? Is it found in the here and now? Is it wrapped up in something that can be purchased or does it lie somewhere out beyond people or things? I think the ancient star of the Magi gleamed beyond their wildest dreams and it continues to gleam past ours.

    I have read on Coffee Cups, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” I have heard the bible speak of “seeking and you will find.” It seems as if seeking is more than a bible study or a self-help book, it seems to be a lifelong quest that demands all that you have to gain more than you knew you needed.

    I cannot be “the star” in the story. I must become a seeker of the star. With all my heart just as the Wise men, I must press on. I need to traverse so far beyond my own opinion, ability, or strength to find the truth wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. I need to find Immanuel, God with us.