"We saw His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

We will be visiting our kids and grand kids in New Mexico for Christmas.  Where they live is known as the High Plains Desert; the elevation is 4,000 ft. and it is miles and miles of farmland and dairies.  There is very little urban development there so the night skies are blanketed with thousands and thousands of bright stars.  It is something I don't often get to see where I live because of all the light pollution.  The artificial light and glow produced in heavily populated areas in California interferes with the natural light of the stars, making the display of the night skies difficult to observe.  So when I am out on the vast plains of New Mexico I make sure to go out in the deep of the night to look up.

The psalmist writes, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge."

When I spend time gazing at the night skies filled with the "work of His hands", I am reminded of the vastness of God and how small I am.  It moves me to worship.  I wonder if the Magi felt something similar when they saw His star in the East.  Little is known of them from scripture but they are thought to have been a sect of wealthy pagan priests from the area of Babylon who searched out the mysteries of the Universe through astronomy and astrology.  Perhaps they too "heard" the heavens pouring forth speech, declaring the glory of God.  Matthew tells us they saw His star and came to worship Him.

Searching and pondering the wonders of the night skies and the magnificence of God moves us to worship Him too.  The majesty of His Creation compels us to pause in wonder, to stare in awe and fascination, and to drop to our knees in praise.  But just as the artificial light produced by large city areas diminishes the heavenly lights above us today, so too does the artificial light that exists in the fast-paced world in which we live.  There seems little opportunity in the busyness of the "information age" to search and to ponder.  The artificial light produced by our culture gradually seeps into our lives and diminishes our ability to see the True Light of the World, our Savior Jesus.

The very One whose hands stretched out the heavens and marshaled the starry host at Creation came to us as a little baby born in a stable thousands of years ago.  Not many noticed.  Perhaps they too were busy, living in the artificial light of their time. But some noticed...because they were looking.  The Magi searched, saw, came, worshipped.

May we also take time to search...to ponder...and then to worship the One who is worthy of all our praise.