Devotional Thought – Seeing The Star

23 Dec Devotional Thought – Seeing The Star

“When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them. . .” Matt. 2:9

Where was the star while they were in the city of Herod?  Had it stopped shining there in the Palestinian sky?  Had it been extinguished after leading them to the palace of the great king?  No, it was still there.  It had simply been hidden by the streets and skyline of the world.  Those wise men had entered into an antagonistic atmosphere – one where wisdom didn’t reign.  They ceased seeing the star that had guided them so far and brought them rejoicing when their vision became clouded by the world.  But now that they had left the world the gospel writer indicates that the star was once again visible.  It had been there, waiting for them all along in the pure heavens, and when their eyes were cleared from the impurity of the world they were able to see it once again.

This simple story of the star has been true more than one time in my heart and life.   There have been times in my life when I felt that the glory had departed, when I felt that the star of Bethlehem had set, but that wasn’t the case.  It was there all along.  It wasn’t that it had left the sky, but rather that my vision had been blocked by the skyline of the world.  My eyes oftentimes become so clouded with the things that the world calls and considers to be great that I lose sight of another world.  Thus I have learned that when I withdraw from this world and set my mind on things above that suddenly the star is seen again.

What is true for me is true for you.  If you will take your eyes off of the impurities of this world and place them on to the pure things of heaven the glory will return.  The glory of those days when your heart was younger and softer and purer.  That same star waits for you today, to lead your heart to Bethlehem’s manger, and when your heart reaches the humility of Bethlehem you will be a child again – a child in heart, but a man in wisdom.