TWINKLE, TWINKLE!!

When God’s Word tells us that the magi saw “His star” (Matt 2:2) in the eastern sky, the Holy Spirit is telling us that there is a star in the sky that is His star. It’s there to tell us, or at least it told the magi, about Him. Astronomers (not astrologers) have for millenia told us that there is a story in the skies that reveal God’s hand.  The Almighty has so arranged His creation so that “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). What greater glory do we have than Yeshua, than the Son of God who is “the radiance of His (the Father’s) glory” (Heb. 1:3)?  One translation says He is the “outraying” of His Father. Though we cannot look at the sun with our natural eyes because it is brighter than our eyes can endure, we live by the light and the warmth of the rays of the sun that come to us. And so it is with God and His Son. 

Stars are really great suns, not just cute little twinkly things far off in the dark sky, as you know. They are enormous bodies of power, fire and light, some even greater than our sun. While not all stars lead us to Yeshua in the way that “His star” led the magi to Him, such things as the stars can still lead us to Him.  We can be aware that what may appear to be a tiny thing is really a great and significant evidence of God’s power when it becomes to us a revelation of the Son of God.

Stars cause us to look upward if we are to see them. We must look away from what occupies our attention to see them, if even for a moment. The stars can remind us that the glory of God in the heavens has come to earth on our behalf and brought the light of God’s truth and love to us, not just generally but in our own specific and personal situations, which can sometimes seem quite dark, can’t they? 

We only see the stars at night, but the stars are out there in the skies during the day as well. We see the stars most clearly when the sky is the darkest. For many, the dark times in our lives cause us to look up to seek the Lord in our time of need.  The darker our situations, the more we are aware that we need Him. The darker the sky, the more visible the stars are. Isaiah tells us there will come a time of deep spiritual darkness upon the earth, but that is not the whole story. Listen to what happens:  “For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you” (Isaiah 60:2). “His glory,” of course, is Yeshua so this verse applies to those of us who are His. Since it was said to Israel in particular, it means that Israel will become the light in the world in a time of great darkness, as will everyone who believes in Israel’s God and Messiah!! 

Daniel also prophesies about a (spiritual) darkness in “a time of great distress” saying, “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:1, 3). Consider, if you will, the contrast between the people engulfed in darkness and those who have insight. Insight means knowledge of God and His ways, that is into God’s truth and how to apply it, and into how to love in a time when love is sorely lacking. Insight means to understand and discern and to have the wisdom to know what to do with the knowledge you have in any given circumstance. I want to be one of those people, don’t you? 

 

The darker situations may be, the more we can shine with the light of God because: 1) He is within us so His truth is imputed to us, 2) we are able to come into His presence so that His light is imparted to us, and 3) His love has embraced us so that the sweet aroma of His presence is still with us, like someone’s perfume or shaving lotion that stays with us after a hug. We can say with Paul, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Messiah, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14). 
 

 

Practically speaking then, when we have His truth, we are not deceived or controlled or intimidated by what is not true. Nor do we believe the lies the enemy who would tell us that our trust must not be in God alone. When we know the Lord's perfect love, it will cast out all fear because when we have confidence in His love for us, we can be confident that He will see us through, whatever the challenge, victoriously. And as for His imparted light, well, His words apply here: “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in the dark but will live his life in the light of life” (John 8:12).  

So go ahead and twinkle. Be someone’s star of hope and salvation, lead people to righteousness, and guide them in the way to Him, just as the star led the magi to Yeshua many years ago. In Daniel’s words, so to speak, doing so is a piece of forever.  

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