“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “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.” And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt. 2:1-3)

A historical event was about to take place and God wanted to arrest the attention of the people. So He used a star to invite the magi to follow His lead. Why them? Was it because they were wise? Maybe, but God knew these men would do something with the star. You see I’m finding that wisdom is not just a state of being. When we follow after the One who is all wise, we begin to take on his character and wisdom begins seeping into our souls

That was the message of the first Christmas and the same is true for us over 2000 years later. In the Bible God revealed stars that led people to the manger until they come face to face with God himself. God extends invitations for us to follow Him as well. For the Magi, He used a star. The Israelites, it was the pillar of fire. Daniel’s star was given to him in prayer. And the angel Gabriel revealed God’s directions to Mary. Still for others, God used storms as He did with Jonah.

God’s direction may be revealed to you through a struggle, reading a book, or a stranger’s testimony. The question is, what are you going to do about it? God is passing out stars all the time because He loves us so much. Ultimately, if we allow Him to navigate our direction, wisdom will seep into our souls.

Like the Magi, we too can develop that kind of wisdom. When God reveals and invites us towards a star in our life, we must give value to the ways of God, even when we do not understand it.

“And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

Though they didn’t understand why God chose a star or even where it was leading, the wise men just followed anyway. Then when they arrived at the manger, they worshipped Him or gave value to Him. (The word “worship” comes from an old English word that means, to give worth to or “worthship”.) Now, I’m sure the three wise men had a lot of questions, especially, when they arrived and found a baby boy born to poor parents in a dirty manger. They probably wondered, “This sure is a strange way to save the world”.

Nevertheless, they worshipped Him because He deserved their attention and affection. Therefore, we too express His worth in our life by worshipping Him. Scripture says, “You shall have one God and you shall worship Him only”. As Christians we must give worth to God and show Him how valuable He is to us with our heart’s affection because He deserves our best. Remember what you worship or give value and attention to will determine the priorities of everything else in your life. If you give value or worth to money, people, or even your job it will influence all areas of your life. So be careful about what or whom you worship.

Some gifts that God gives us may not be what we understand or would like to receive. Yet sometimes God leads us to receive eternal wisdom, character, and contentment through a star that may seem unusual as it did to the magi. Nevertheless, they gave God’s ways value. So when God invites you to follow Him, we must do the same and give God our greatest worth even when we don’t understand it.