Daily Reading to Prepare Our Hearts for Christmas
Day 17 – Star Preaching
Matthew 2:1-2 ESV
Focal Scripture: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
According to Spurgeon: If all of humanity fails to preach the gospel, God still has the world He created to speak about Jesus. He is Omnipotent, everything acts in servitude towards Him. The stars and rocks themselves confess to who God is. God does not need us to carry out His message or will. By acting in disobedience to our calling we are only hurting ourselves, not God’s plan or the church. The stars, heavens and firmament tell of God’s glory. The mountains and hills can give testimony when we fail to do so. The whole world will know God and hear His message. The night Christ was born, a star preached about Christ to the wise men. They knew it was His star. A star made to shine for Christ, to preach Christ.
The Star and The Wise Men-Sermon delivered Dec. 24, 1882
My Thoughts: God does not need us to carry out His plan and purpose. Because he loves us, He allows us to work alongside Him. From this we gain wisdom, relationship with God and are ultimately blessed by working in His kingdom. Our attitude should not be: we have to obey and work. We should be grateful we get to work with God to achieve His purpose. In Luke 19:40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” If we decide to go against God’s will, to disobey, if we fail to move when He has called us to, another will take our place. There are missed opportunities and blessings when we act in disobedience to God. Failing to go where He has called us to is disobedience. Failing to do what He has laid out for us is disobedience. We fail to grow when we fail to listen to what God is calling us to do. We may have doubts about our abilities. These doubts might paralyze our progress, but we must remember that with God all things are possible. We must remember that God can equip us, give us what we are lacking. If Moses would have focused on his lack of abilities instead of God’s power, God would have chosen someone else. If no one would have gone, the plagues themselves would have displayed God’s power and spoken for Him. It should bring us comfort to know that God loves us so much He wants us to collaborate with Him to enact His will. Even people in the most remote locations will know who God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are. Even people in the most remote locations will know the gospel.
Prayer Note:
Conviction and courage to do what God has called us to do
Grow in Christ
Have a heart that wants to serve