On My First Blog for Christmas...

I decided to write a blog series about symbols of Christmas. I'm not sure how many I will get to, but I wanted to start off with the star.

There's a scene from The Lion King (yep, had to throw a movie in here somewhere), when Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa are laying in the grass after a large feast. They are looking up at the night sky, questioning what "those tiny sparkling dots" are. Timon makes the guess that they are fireflies "stuck in that big, bluish-black thing." Pumbaa makes the comment that he always thought that they were "balls of gas burning billions of miles away." I don't really know much about stars, but I think Pumbaa might be closer to being right here. I love looking at the stars. They decorate the dark, night sky with "sparkling dots." They give off light.

When Herod the king, sent the wise men to go look for baby Jesus, "the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was." (Matthew 2:9) The new star had appeared, and they knew exactly where to go to find the newborn babe.

We see stars and lights all over the place at Christmas time, including on our tree. We are reminded that Jesus Christ is the light. For He, Himself said, "...I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12). Like the wise man, followed the star, we too can follow a light. That light is Jesus Christ. As we follow Him, we will not walk in darkness. We will be led to eternal life.

So the next time you see a star, know that it's no fireflies, but remember what it means.