Can you believe December 1st is here? Only 24 shopping days until Christmas! But really, before you settle into holiday survival mode … can we talk?
Some of you will begin our Reverse Advent Calendar Outreach today by collecting grocery items for the needy - and that’s awesome. But all of us begin a countdown today to personally see the Star of Bethlehem … Jesus Himself. And man, we need to see Jesus don’t we? May I guide your thought today by taking you back to the R&B artists Bebe & CeCe Winans who sang:
I've walked many a night without a place to rest
Not knowing where the north is or the east and west
But give me one star, just one simple light
And I'll never walk alone again at night
Give me one star to clear the mist and fog away
Give me one star to light the world in dark today
Give me a star, just one simple light
And I'll never walk alone again at night.
The gospel writer Matthew records the journey of visitors from the East that first Christmas by saying, "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. They could hardly contain themselves." -Matthew 2:10
Have you noticed how people designate the star that shone with splendor at Christmas? It is called “the star of Bethlehem” – not “the Jesus star,” or some other name. The light, which beamed earthward from astronomical distances beyond our planet, is named for a dusty little village with few distinctions … except that Jesus was born there!
Would you let that become a Christmas gift thought to guide you? It is yet another pointer to the way that God has of dignifying, enabling, and advancing His grace upon the humblest of places and people where Jesus enters in!
So Merry Christmas my family in Christ - and as The Bethlehem Star has ignited His glory over you, let's obey the prophet Isaiah's guidance, “Arise, shine; for … the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!”