[The Magi] went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:9-11).
Father of the heavenly lights, You are "the Lord...who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night...the Lord Almighty is Your name" (Jeremiah 31:35). All nature and science bow to Your Sovereign will. You make winds Your messengers, flames of fire Your servants (Psalm 104:4).
"Day after day" You display Your wonders in the heavens—The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1-2). So when it was time to announce the gift of Your Son to humanity, You included a star among Your messengers.
Almighty God, even the best minds of science are completely perplexed by “the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place” (Psalm 8:3). It is amazing to comprehend that You determine the number of the stars and call them each by name (Psalm 147:4).
Your word tells us that "The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor" (1 Corinthians 15:41). And You chose the particular splendor of one star to reveal to learned men of Science that Your light had come. And when they followed Your star, You revealed the wonder of Your Christ Child, Your gift of life, and light, and love. And they worshipped.
O Lord, give us the wisdom of those whose knowledge lead them to You. This Christmas, and always, may we, like them, seek You earnestly, follow Your guiding light, and lay our treasures down before You in joyful worship.
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