Why didn’t we have a star adorning the top of our Christmas tree? Instead, we had a yellow Volkswagon Beetle ornament front and center for all to see. It looked weird and out of place—a miniature of what I was driving in those days.

It’s not some classic car bauble but a star that leads the Wise Men to Bethlehem, where they find Joseph and Mary cradling Jesus, their firstborn child. The Magi will follow the high-in-the-sky star, which bids them seek the Messiah, who will forgive sin and offer salvation like no one ever has or will.

The Star is first mentioned in the Old Testament, in Numbers 24– ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…’ (Num. 24: 17). Ironically, this star vision is from the lips of a pagan curse-maker, Balaam. Through such a dodgy source, the Lord God chooses to speak. That a star is coming. Not the Hollywood type but something you can hitch your wagon to. That, if followed, leads you to the very presence of God in the flesh.

It’s this same star vision that Old Testament Daniel teaches to the Wise Men in his court in Babylon hundreds of years later—that a star will be seen in the sky, leading to more than an astral sighting but to the long-awaited Messiah. So, get ready. Be prepared. When the star appears, it’s time to take off to find the Babe in Bethlehem of Judea, in Israel.

The star points to Jesus and shines upon Him as a guiding light from the Lord God. When you know, love, and follow Him, that light will dwell within you as God’s Christmas present that keeps shining, leading, comforting, and chasing away the darkness forever.

Merry Christmas? Oh yes, Merry Christmas! Shine, Jesus shine.

Jesus, the light of the world, thank you for coming into my life. May I shine for you always. Amen.