Let Your Faith Be Your Star

As we are literally wrapped up in the Christmas Season and at the beginning of the New Year, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the seeming symbolism at every turn.  And one of the most recognizable and pervasive symbols of this season is The Star of Bethlehem.

We define a symbol as something concrete that represents something far more abstract. But in a way, a symbol is a key.  It is a red flag on the white sails of a sailboat drifting out in the foggy sea, pointing out where we should look and, consequently, go.

Christmas seems to be a time when we become more acutely aware that, despite our occasional bravado and self-assurance, we are still looking.  That awareness is both a blessing and a curse that we must navigate if are to ever achieve the destiny that God wants for each of us.

The Star Must be Visible

Before we can follow this Star, it must be visible, discernable to us.  One cannot follow a star hidden in clouds, darkness, or mountains.

The clouds that obscure the star are the confusion that we allow to set in from the noise and distractions of this world.  The darkness is the evil that surrounds us at every turn.  The mountains, however, are more formidable.

The mountains are the doubts that we allow to be rooted in our hearts, minds, hearts, and souls.  These doubts can be external from a world all too eager to serve them to us on a silver platter.  But they can also be internal doubts which fester and grow within us.  So we must first fight against confusion, evil, and doubts, and resolve to maintain that battle until we reach our destiny of being with God forever.

The more visible that Star is to us, the more it will be able to guide us toward our destinies.  It will guide us by showing us the general direction we should follow if we want to grow closer to God.  Under ordinary circumstances, it is very difficult, or highly improbable, that we will go in the opposite direction of a clearly defined Star before us.  Once visible and accepted as our guide, the Star can become our spiritual GPS leading us toward our eternal destiny.

The Star is High Up

In order for us to truly use a Star to guide us, that Star must be high above where we are.  Our goals and hopes should never become less or lower than they are at this moment.  The rich man does not hope to become poor.  The happy man does not aspire to become sad.  The healthy man does not reach out hoping to become sick.

Once we recognize that God is greater than we are, and that He should be our greatest hope and our goal, then it becomes clear that He is far above where we are at this moment.  In a sense, He is above and beyond what are now and even what we could ever hope to be without Him.

The Star is Constant

We have all experienced the visual illusion that a star is moving from us or going in some direction.  In actuality, the star is constant and unchanging.  It is we who are moving and changing toward it.

As you walk toward a tree, it seems to get bigger.  As you walk from a tree, it appears to shrink.  The person walking left before a tree seems to see the tree move to the right.  Likewise, the person moving  right while facing a tree seems to see that tree move to the left.  But we know that the tree has not moved.  In fact, we are the only ones who can, should, and must move if we are to move beyond that tree.

The tree, like the star, is constant.  It should be we who are improving, moving, adjusting, toward or from a tree that is rooted in the ground.

We know that God is Truth itself, and that He is unchanging.  We are the ones who must change, adjust, improve, shift, and gravitate, toward Him.

Too many people in this present age seem to act as if it is God’s mission, task, or job to constantly shift toward their convenience or comfort. Such people either need a reality check or a mirror in which they can admire themselves.   The sooner we realize that it is all about God and the only variable is our individual ability to get with the program, the better off we will be on many levels.

There is Distance Between Us and The Star

Most people realize that stars are not objects we usually find across the street or between two parked cars in front of our home.  At any moment there is some distance between us and that star we admire and aspire to.

On one level, the Star may seem within our reach.  And, in a way, it really is within our reach.  We can and should feel that this Star is something we can achieve to touch.  Otherwise it will seem a hopeless, useless cause and exercise, a waste of time.  But that is what the devil wants us to think.

However, it is important to realize that this Star is not merely a few steps away from us merely requiring a quickstep or shuffle.  We must realize, accept, embrace, and be inspired by the challenge that the Star before us is some distance away from our present.  And we must be thrilled by the promise that this Star will be worth every single struggle and setback that we face in our effort to reach it.

This is where the faith combined with the grace that inspired and triggered our journey in the first place reaches its first real, concrete stage.  It is one thing to believe enough to begin.  It is, however, something much more to believe after we have taken a few lumps on the path.

The Star Will Take Us To Christ

All of this may seem inspirational and nice, as some do-it-yourself-self-help recipe, but as believers and followers of Christ we know that pie in the sky is no mere dessert.  In fact, that pie is not the mathematical pi but the Alpha and the Omega – the Way, the Truth, and the Light.

Far too many folks try glancing at the horizon and then obsessing over each step.  As people of faith in Christ, we need to look at the first step but focus and obsess on the horizon.  That horizon is not a setting sun but, to the contrary, a Son that is always Rising in our hearts, minds, and souls.

God’s Son was found at the end of the simplest, yet powerful, symbol of Christmas.  That symbol led three wise men to the smartest move they ever made.  Our Star, Christ, is no mere symbol but the very real breathing, bleeding, and loving representation of Love that we should find in the Manger of our hearts every time we open our eyes each morning, especially at Christmas.