The Guiding Star and the Kingโ€™s Seekers

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข Recall a time when you went out of your way for someone. How did it make you feel?

โ€ข Think of someone reputable you want to meet. What would you tell that person?

โ€ข What is the most valuable gift youโ€™ve given to someone? What does that say about how you see this person?


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

๐˜ˆ๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ด, ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฉ.ย ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿต-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


(Read also ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ-๐Ÿด.)


We celebrate Christmas because our greatest miracle has come! This season reminds us of Godโ€™s invitation for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him and to worship Him as He revealed Himself through Jesus, our Savior and King. Even during the first Christmas, there was much anticipation: the Jews waited for the Messiah, Godโ€™s promise, to come and ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต studied the movement of the starsโ€”which miraculously pointed to Jesusโ€”having heard about this promise. This just shows that God also had Gentiles in mindโ€”for the salvation of the whole world. Letโ€™s learn from the example of these wise men about how we can respond to Godโ€™s invitation to seek Him, worship Him, and make Him known.


๐Ÿญ. ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ?

๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, โ€œ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ด? ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.โ€ย ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ-๐Ÿฎ


Scholars believe that these wise men came from Babylon, over a thousand kilometers from Bethlehem. The journey was long, yet they braved vast deserts and wilderness. It wasnโ€™t even guaranteed that they would find what they were looking for, yet they went anyway in faith that they would see the King of kings. Their tenacity is something we can aspire for. As we seek God and trust Him, may we realize that encountering Him is worth the challenges and inconveniences of life. Recall a challenging thing you have done to honor God. How did that experience help grow your faith?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ?

๐˜ผ๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™๐™ค๐™ช๐™จ๐™š, ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™จ๐™–๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง, ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™›๐™š๐™ก๐™ก ๐™™๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™š๐™™ ๐™๐™ž๐™ข. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ด, ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฉ. ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


When the wise men finally arrived, they were excited and ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜บ (Matthew 2:10)! As soon as they saw Jesus, they humbled themselves and worshiped Him. They were men of wisdom and stature, yet at the feet of the baby Jesus, they selflessly bowed in worship upon seeing Godโ€™s promise fulfilled. The King of kings is here! Today, in the midst of uncertainties, we can come to God in humility and reverence, trusting that He is King over everything. Recall a truth God has revealed about Himself that causes you to worship Him. How does it help you in your challenges?


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€?ย 

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ. ๐™๐™๐™š๐™ฃ, ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ž๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š๐™จ, ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ค๐™›๐™›๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™๐™ž๐™ข ๐™œ๐™ž๐™›๐™ฉ๐™จ, ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ก๐™™ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™›๐™ง๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™š๐™ฃ๐™จ๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ข๐™ฎ๐™ง๐™ง๐™.ย ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฎ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ


From the beginning, the wise men knew that the person they would meet was no ordinary man. So they brought gifts that were fit for Jesusโ€”gold for His kingship, frankincense as a priestly offering, and myrrh for His humanity. Whether they knew it or not, these gifts were prophetic gestures of what kind of person Jesus would be. Their generosity showed that they were willing to give the best they had to worship Him. When we honor God, may we have the same attitude as the wise menโ€”to give our best in everything we say and do. What is the greatest thing you offered to God? How did it reflect who God is to you?


Miracles are signs that point to something greater, something even Godโ€™s creation understands. The star that the wise men followed was timed and placed exactly to point to Jesus and make Him known even to the Gentiles. As we continue to experience Godโ€™s miracles every day, may we always have a heart to worship Him with everything we have and make Him known to the world.


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข Are you willing to go out of your way to seek God? Share one or two things you are willing to do starting today.ย 

โ€ข How do you express your worship to God? What do you think humble worship looks like in your life?ย 

โ€ข What gift will you give Jesus this Christmas? What do you think would be a befitting gift for the King of kings?


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God for His love that reaches people, even those who are far away from Him. Thank Him for making His Son, Jesus, known and allowing us to experience His love.

โ€ข Ask God to give you a heart of humility that seeks to worship Him always. Pray that God would continually remind you of who He is and show His goodness in your life.

โ€ข Pray that you would choose to trust and obey God as you continue to experience His miracles. May He use your life as His miracle and blessing to others today and every day.