The Star led them to Christ

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."
Matthew 2:2

The main thing about the star in this passage was that it led men to Christ, that was it's purpose. It led these wise men until they found Christ and then you don't hear anything more about it. 

In Philippians 1:12-18 Paul talked about how some people preached Christ out of selfish ambition wanting to be noticed. The stars only purpose was to lead men to Christ.

In this coming year in your personal arena my prayer for you is that like the star you will shine and bring glory to Christ alone and for His pleasure. 

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”  But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”

Luke 19:37-40

A Blessed Inconvenience

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 21:1

I was meditating on how the heart of all authority is in the hands of the Lord and how it turns it whatever way He wishes. Think back to the time when Caesar Augustus called for the census in Luke 2:1 and what an inconvenience it must have been for Joseph and Mary. 

Mary was very with child and they had to pack up the donkey and make the arduous trek to Joseph's hometown of Bethlehem. There weren't roads back then like we have today and travel was difficult, making it a major hassle for the couple to endure the journey.

So many times we read through these stories and we forget they were people just like us. They must have questioned the decree..."Why does he want to count everybody anyway?" "Why now, Mary, at the time when your pregnant?"

All the while God was the one orchestrating the circumstances to fulfill prophesies from long ago. How many times in our lives do we complain about the inconvenience of things? We find ourselves complaining without realizing that God is guiding things to achieve His glorious eternal purposes and we are a part of that! 

Think of Mary being told by the angel that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. What a life changing experience! Her response was the acceptance of God's will without reservation. 

We can trust God's guiding hand even in the inconveniences of life and joyfully trust that He is involved in our circumstances.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38