Thursday 7 Jan 2021

January 7: Matthew 2:1-4
 
Key Verse: Matthew 2:2
and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’
 
Devotion:
I wonder if you have ever been in a position where you thought you were in charge or at least the contact through which others should interact – only to be set aside when other people were queried or contacted instead of you! I think I would be pretty put out by that sort of action, but I would not go as far as King Herod went...
 
These Magi were well thought of and must have caused a bit of a scene by coming to find where this ‘new king’ was who had been signalled by the changing of the stars in the sky. We have recently seen the confluence of two planets in our system which gave us a brilliant ‘star’ in the night sky, especially when viewed from Southern Africa; but that was just an alignment of a couple of planets...
 
These Magi were students of the skies – they watched the skies for all manner of changes and concluded something special was happening and the bright light in the sky was going to show them where! We are still not sure where these Magi came from – other than the East – but they would have stood out from the crowd.
 
I wonder if you are someone who stands out from the crowd or someone who blends in to hide amongst numbers. I prefer to think I try to stand out from the crowd because I want people to hear what I have to say about Jesus! I am known as the guy who wears Jesus T-Shirts at all times – something I strive to do now because it gives me a chance to allow others to see where my heart belongs.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to be noticed as a Christian?
 
Will you stand up and be noticed this month – even in lock-down?