“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matt 2:2 NIV)

This summer we spent more than a month camping. One of our favourite camping thrills was to relax around a crackling fire at the end of the day. It’s quite mesmerizing to stare into the flames. As the warmth of the fire fills your bones with much needed heat, the flames dance, constantly flitting and darting about, constantly changing.

Whenever we stood back, we would notice other campfires, even bigger than ours, being lit all over the campground. And even these were nothing compared to the myriad of stars shining in the sky, each one precisely placed by a Master hand.

The lights from the sky can be seen anywhere in our side of the world, even amidst bright city lights. It’s true that where there is a lot of light, they are harder to contemplate, but they can still be seen, even in mega cities.

Now that’s something that our bright fire couldn’t do. As vividly as it shone forth, it couldn’t even be seen around the next bend on the road. And unlike the stars, which will always be there, even beyond our own lifetimes, a campfire will die down to nothing by ash before the night is over.

I couldn’t help but admire those stars. Compared to my puny fire, they were far more grandiose and enticing. All over our universe they would continue to broadcast a special constant message: There is a Creator and He is worthy of worship.

The wise men from the East clearly saw that message from the sky (See Mat 2:2) and they too couldn’t help but fall on their knees and worship our Maker.

Life is never a constant. Everything changes. Imagine transporting a person like Abraham back to our time. He would most likely react much like my kitten does when she’s on a leash and a car passes by! But we have a constant in our lives, as testified by the stars: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8 NIV) The One who created us will always be there for us, reaching out to us with His ardent love.

What will we do with such love?

Will we continue to contemplate our achievements–our own little “fires”? These, too, will eventually dim, and people will forget all about our endeavours. Or will we fall with awe on our knees and exclaim: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” (1 Chron 16:29 NIV)

Watching the flames of a campfire might be fun, but it isn’t nearly as much fun as exploring the stars of our universe will be. I am looking to the day our Creator will come back for us and not only will this be possible, but it will also be possible to walk and talk with the Lover of our souls! Oh, what a glorious day!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “The Heart of the Matter” devotional series, please click here.)