Then things changed abruptly. The court society turned on him without explanation. Street gangs broke up his operas. His small fortune was gradually depleted, and he was soon reduced to abject poverty.

It took a severe toll on his health. Pressures mounted. A cerebral hemorrhage resulted in the paralysis of his right side. He could neither write nor walk. The medical community gave him no hope of recovery. He was a broke and broken old man.

He went to Aix-la-Chapelle to take hot baths in hope of finding help. Though he was told that staying in the hot waters longer than three hours at a time would kill him, he stayed longer than nine hours. Inert muscles that had atrophied were stimulated, and his limbs took on new life. The paralysis passed.

With renewed vigor, he resumed his work. His exhilaration resulted in the rapid production of four operas. His new success was met with renewed acclaim. Then, suddenly, his health failed again.

To further complicate his plight, his longtime patroness, Queen Caroline, died. The drastic reduction of his income was accompanied by a bitter British winter. His mounting problems distracted his attention and quieted his creative genius.

One evening, as he returned from an aimless walk on London’s streets, he found a package in his room containing a musical score entitled “A Sacred Oratorio.”  His soaring hope diminished when he saw that its author was Charles Jennens, considered by many to be only a second-rate poet. The postscript at the bottom said, “The Lord gave me the Word.”

He thumbed through the pages quickly.  His indifference was arrested by such expressions as “He was despised and rejected of men . . .”  “I know that my Redeemer liveth . . .:  “Rejoice . . .Hallelujah.”  His kindred spirit caught fire.  A responsive chord had been struck and he began to write rapidly.  Page after page was produced.

All through the night he wrote. Ceaselessly, he continued to chart score after score. The next day his manservant found him still busy at work. Choosing not to disturb him, he quietly left the breakfast tray. Upon returning at noon, he found the tray untouched.

The great composer continued to refuse food as he continued to write. Only occasionally would he stop and stride back and forth across the room flailing his arms up and down.  Then he would rush back and resume writing again.

He concluded his work with the greatest musical climax ever written, the “Hallelujah Chorus.” Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He said to his servant, “I do think I saw all heaven before me and the great God Himself.” I believe he did indeed.

George F. Handel had labored for twenty-three uninterrupted days. Totally exhausted, he collapsed and slept for seventeen hours. On a nearby table lay the score of what is unquestionably the greatest and most inspired musical oratorio ever composed, Messiah.

How did it happen that such a small group of simple and unlettered men and women could go out into the world with the story of a crucified Jew who was not part of the religious establishment of the day and persuade men and women to accept Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord?

Glover’s answer is that they were enabled by the grace of God to do three things:

They out-lived the world.  They did this because they could say of Jesus: “He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).  They also believed that He died for the whole world.  Their faith in Christ gave them a new dignity and worth, a motive for service, and a reason to be forgiving that no one else in the world had.

They were also given a motivation to live lives of purity that no one else had.  They could look at a prostitute – “the victim of common lust”, as the early church father Tertullian, called her – and know that it was for even her that Christ died.  By being redeemed she – and every other sinner as well — could become “a new creation.”

They out-died the world.  Tertullian, prior to his conversion to Christianity, was a famous Roman lawyer.  He saw Christians die in a way that he had seen no other person die, and it shook him to the depths of his being.  “Every man who sees it” he said, “is moved with some misgiving, and is set on fire to learn the reason.”

The early Christians demonstrated the kind of bravery unseen before – even in the face of death.  When simple men and women could choose to die like that, generally in extreme agony, the world took notice of it and was greatly impacted by it.

They out-thought the world.  The citizens in the ancient world were generally very gullible and superstitious.  Christians were clear-sighted and fearless.  Notices were sometimes seen outside heathen shrines: “Christians keep out.”  They could see through the mumbo-jumbo that was being taught in them.

In that world the way to destroy your enemy was to attach his name to a demon and the demon would kill him.  “Go on,” said the Christian, “Attach my name to a demon.  This does not cause me to fear, for I have One whose name is above every name to keep me safe.”

If Christians today are to have anything like the level of influence on our world that those first Christians had, the way to accomplish that has not changed:

• We must out-live the world in service, in love, in purity, and in joy.
• We must out-die the world – if that is the price we must pay for believing.
• We must out-think the world, not by clinging to old ways and patterns, but by being ready to give an honorable account of our faith in the face of every challenge that comes our way.

Faith includes what you know, feel, fear, desire, decide, and do about anything.  It is so inclusive and essential to human welfare that the Bible says “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).  Examine the roll call of faith found in Hebrews 1 — Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob Joseph, Moses, etc. — and you discover that each of them witnessed to his or her faith through obedience and courageous action – often despite difficult circumstances.

God created human beings free and responsible.  Adam and Eve knew the privilege of close fellowship with God that contained the possibility of doubting God’s word.  The Genesis 3 story recounts the process of doubting God’s commands, desiring forbidden fruit, and disobeying His instructions.  The entire Bible testifies to the inner struggle between good and evil, between fidelity and disloyalty.  God gives us a choice and we can flee, fight, fold up, fume, or face it.

The companion to such freedom is anxiety.  There are times when you may feel like Simon Peter as he saw Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee and got out of the boat and walked toward Him.  “When he noticed the wind . . . he was afraid, and started to sink down in the water.  ‘Save me, Lord!’ he cried.”  Jesus took Peter’s hand, and then rebuked him: “How little faith you have!  Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).  Life’s decisions are often fashioned in the workshop of doubt.

Many Christians think it inconceivable that believers should have a faith which contains the possibility of vacillating between assurance and doubt.  The Bible is more honest than that, for it readily admits the possibility of disobedience, divine judgment, and mercy for the repenting sinner.

What, then, is doubt?  Webster’s dictionary traces its meaning from the Latin: “fear, to be uncertain about, lack of confidence in, distrust, to consider a fact or situation unlikely.”  Doubters are persons who deliberately refuse to believe or accept a matter until all the facts are known.  Meanwhile, they seek definite data upon which to form an opinion or base a relationship.

The Bible understands caution and the need for clear thinking before a person commits himself.  “The simple (person) believes everything, but the prudent (person) looks where he is going.  A wise man is cautious . . . but a fool throws off restraint and is careless” (Proverbs 13:15-16).  In other words, God desires faith with understanding.  The Bible knows nothing of blind faith.

On the other hand, the Bible distinguishes between reckless doubt – like rejecting God or His messenger – and cautious mistrust by religious persons seeking more light on some issue.  For example, the Old Testament character Job suffered many losses.  His wife suggested that he curse God and die.  His so-called comforters suggested that his misbehavior had caused his calamities.  This view was common in ancient times and remains current today.  Later you hear Job’s joyous trust: “I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see You.” (Job 42:5).

Is it a sin to doubt?  It can be if unbelief encourages disobedience of God or disloyalty to life’s best.  Since commitment to Christ is a growing process, not a static experience, doubt may furnish an opportunity for growth.  Think, for example, of Thomas’ skeptical response to the resurrection of Jesus (see John 20:24-29).  When Jesus appeared later to the disciples in the Upper Room, Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!”  Doubt was transformed into faith when further evidence came.

You, also, may have experienced trying periods when faith floundered and you were forced temporarily into uncertainty.  Not all the battles of the world are fought with guns.  Doubt can destroy you.  But if you learn to master it, skepticism can strengthen your commitment.  Far from being a sin, an inquiring faith fosters curiosity, enlightened concern, and new commitment.  At least it can!

After a hard day’s work out in the fields Maude and Claude were brought into the lot and promptly unhitched from the plow. They were then fed and watered before being shut up in the barn for the night. Maude was ready at the end of each day for a good night’s rest, but Claude still had lots of energy. As soon as he finished eating, he would go around behind Maude and back up in her direction. She knew what he had on his mind, so she would simply walk away.

Claude, however, would not give up easily. Why he did this I will never know, but he would keep on backing up until he got close enough to give her a swift kick in the rear. This was amusing to me. Needless to say, it was definitely not amusing to Maude. This scene would just keep repeating itself until Uncle Bennie closed them up for the night in the barn.

Claude was a hard-working and cooperative worker – as long as he was hitched to a plow with a bit in his mouth so he could be controlled. He would move to the right when the command “gee” was given, and move left when the command “ha” was spoken. He would stop when Uncle Bennie said “whoa.” However, when turned loose in the lot after he had been fed and with Maude locked into his radar, he was deviously mischievous – and, as they say, “stubborn as a mule.”

In those days when mules were treated gently, fed adequately, properly shod, and shown kindness, they provided the means by which farmers fed their families. It would have been taking your life into your own hands, however, to stand in close proximity to Claude when he was in a kicking mood and had Maude in his rear view mirror. Unlike Claude, she was never mischievous, always gentle, a hard worker, and responsive to every spoken direction.

Since that summer in 1946 I’ve often thought about Maude and Claude. They remind me of some of the church members I have known. I am grateful for those who had a disposition like Maude, for they always responded affirmatively when called upon to serve in some capacity. They had a good spirit because they loved the Lord and their church, were hard workers, and could be counted upon to do a superb job. Without them the churches I have served would not have succeeded in accomplishing the mission Christ assigned to His church nearly as well as they did.

Some church members, however, have been more like Claude – even after doing some things right, they spent a lot of their time and energy backing up and kicking their fellow Christians. Those who can – do. Those who can’t – criticize. Finding fault, criticizing, and knocking fellow Christians sidetracks a church from fulfilling its divinely assigned mission.

The truth is that all of us have a little of Claude in us at times – even if we do not like to admit it. The apostle certainly knew that. Perhaps that is why he wrote to the church in Corinth, “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (I Corinthians 9:27).

Christians who choose to grow toward spiritual maturity must discipline themselves. Mules do not have much choice in the matter. You and I, however, do have a choice, for God made us in His image. This means we are free moral agents. We are free to either serve God or to serve ourselves. In order to serve God well, we must be disciplined.

Our part is to choose to be disciplined. God’s part is to supply the power, and He will do that. This involves two things: (1) we must listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction, and (2) we must be obedient to the teaching found in God’s Word. No one can do our listening for us. And no one can be obedient for us. God is willing to do His part. We must also do our part.

Pam contacted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink.  She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before her physicians discovered that she was pregnant.  The doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby.  She refused to have an abortion and cited her Christian faith.  She held in her heart the hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities her doctors predicted.  She said the doctors thought of the baby she was carrying as a mass of fetal tissue, not as a human being.

In the weeks that followed Pam nearly lost the baby four times, but she still refused to have an abortion.  She and her husband made this pledge to God in prayer: “If You will give us a son, we will name him Timothy and train him to become a preacher.”

Pam’s pregnancy was so difficult that she spent the last two months in bed.  She eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy on August 14, 1987.  Later on, just as she and her husband had planned, Timothy did indeed become a preacher.  Today he preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, witnesses to others daily of his faith, and periodically serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines.  He also happens to play football.  His name is Tim Tebow.

Tim was the star quarterback for the Florida Gators that won the NCAA National Championship.  He was the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy.  His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Christian witness.

Tim bows after every touchdown and at the end of each game to offer thanks to God for the gift of life and for the opportunity to share his faith.  The news media calls this “Tebowing.”  This public and unashamed witness of his faith out on the field of play is often criticized by those who do not understand his sincerity.  The concerted effort in our secular world to push the expression of Christian faith out of the public square doesn’t stop him from sharing his faith.

In the black that athletes place below their eyes to cut down the glare of the bright field lights Tim always prints the words, John 3:16.  In a recent playoff game against the vaunted Pittsburg Steelers his passing yards, including the winning 80 yard touchdown pass in overtime that won the game, totaled 316.  Was this just a coincidence?  Or was God rewarding his faithfulness in a unique way?

What if Tim’s mother had died as a result of continuing her pregnancy in 1987?  What if she had taken her doctor’s advice and consented to have an abortion?  Also, how many other healthy and active leaders would we have today in every field – medicine, education, science, business, etc. – if only millions of healthy fetuses had not been willingly and needlessly terminated before they had a chance to live?  These are questions worth considering.

Say what you will about Tim Tebow’s ability to play quarterback, but we should honor the way God heard and answered the prayers of Mrs. Pam Tebow.  We should also recognize and appreciate the powerful witness that her son gives to the world of the limitless love of God.

In the words that Paul Harvey made famous, “And now you know the rest of the story!”

When the young birds that are left behind are fully mature they rise into the sky and set their course out over the Pacific Ocean.  They have never made the journey before, but they must cross two thousand miles of ocean on their way to their destination.  During their trip they do not have even one opportunity for food or rest, and they frequently encounter high winds and storms.  Yet they fly straight to those tiny specks in the Pacific known as the Hawaiian Islands.

How do you explain the flight of these birds?  Surely they are equipped with what we today call a Global Positioning System (GPS).  What is fascinating to me about this is that God has also made the same kind or provision for those who serve Him.  When our lives are in harmony with His will, even though we cannot see the way ahead, we have an instinctive sense of the right direction and, with courage and confidence, we move steadily ahead through life without fear.  We know that, even through life’s storms and uncertainties, we shall arrive at the destination God has provided for us.

The Bible says that this is the assurance every believer can possess: “In all your ways acknowledge him (God) and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6 NIV).  This relieves us of the burden of the responsibility of tomorrow.  We have all made mistakes in our yesterdays, and we can both be forgiven of them and learn from them.  But when we turn our face toward the dim unknown tomorrow, God has promised to give the level of guidance that we need.  If we follow His will, God says to us, “I will accept responsibility for whatever happens.”

After Jesus on the cross said, “It is finished,” He then said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46 NIV).  His statement was an expression of total faith.  He had done His best.  He had given His all.  He had fulfilled the mission for which He came into the world.  Now He was willing to leave the results in God’s hands.

Because Christians have a continuing faith relationship with God, we can say with the hymn writer, “Keep thou my feet: I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step is enough for me.”  God does not usually make known His will for years ahead.  Instead, He shows us one step at a time, and as we take that step, it will lead us in the direction He would have us go.

When you leave where you are in the middle of the darkest night and head for a destination a hundred miles or more away, the headlights on your automobile will only reveal what is directly in front of you.  They will not shine all the way to your destination.  But if you keep following what your headlights reveal, you will reach your destination. In this way God reveals our path one day at a time.

To be in the center of God’s will, and to trust Him implicitly, does not mean that we will be immune to the kind of tragedies and conflicts that often happen in life.  It simply means that God’s guidance can be trusted as we face them, and that we need not fear.  Also, God’s will for us is not limited to our time on earth.  He plans in terms of eternity.  He has promised that those who trust Him will reach beyond earth into eternity.

Jesus said to His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may always be where I am” (John 14:2-3 NIV).

Just as the Pacific Golden Plover flies to a destination where they have never been, every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord has a destination.  We have never been there before, but it is our Savior’s promise.  It is the EPS (Eternity Positioning System) that God installs in every believer’s heart.  At a time of God’s own choosing it will guide us to our prepared destination.

One reason churches fail to meet budgeted goals is that a budget is looked upon in terms of dollars and cents, not in terms of evangelism, outreach, and ministry.  Another reason is that a sizeable number of members often give little or nothing.   They find tithing, the giving of a tenth of their income to the Lord, difficult because they try to give their eleventh tenth, not their first tenth.

When church budgets are not met, the dreams that have been dreamed cannot come to fruition.  Church leadership is forced to make adjustments, to whittle down the size of dreams, and some of the things that should be done never get done.  The church staff and lay persons in leadership positions are put under the pressure of meeting every goal when funds are short.

The great English pastor Stephen Olford once told the story of a circus athlete who earned his living by displaying astonishing feats of physical strength.  His show would normally conclude with a simple, but impressive, demonstration of his ability to squeeze an orange dry.  After completing his act, he would then challenge his audience to produce anyone who could extract even one drop of juice from the crushed fruit.

On one of these occasions, a little man volunteered.  He was so small in stature that his very appearance raised a laugh from the spectators.  Undaunted however, the man stepped onto the stage and took from the athlete what appeared to be nothing more than a shriveled up piece or orange rind.  Then bracing himself, he slowly and firmly compressed his right hand.  Every eye was on him, and the atmosphere was electric.

A moment or two elapsed, and then, to everyone’s amazement – especially that of the athlete – a drop of orange juice formed and dripped to the floor.  As the cheers subsided, the athlete beckoned the man to come forward, asked his name, and then invited him to tell the crowd how he managed to develop such fistic powers.

“Nothing to it,” replied the man.  Then, with a grin, he added, “I happen to be the treasurer of the local Baptist Church.”  Church treasurers have had lots of experience squeezing budgets all the way to the end of the year.  Church treasurers in Baptist churches are not the only ones who have had to work hard to keep the money from running out before the end of the year.  If every church member practiced good stewardship this would not be a problem.

Maybe you have heard the story of a minister who was called by the Internal Revenue Service concerning a member of his church who was being audited and had reported on his income tax form that he had given $5,000 to the church.  The IRS wanted to know if this was true.

The pastor replied, “I don’t have the records before me, and I will have to check on it.  But I’ll tell you this – if he didn’t, he will!”

If you genuinely want your church to fulfill its divinely assigned mission, I encourage you to be faithful to it in every way – with your prayers, your witness, your attendance, the sharing of your talents, and in the giving of your material means.  It is the only way your church will be able to succeed in carrying out our Lord’s Great Commission (see Matthew 28:18-20).

Ask yourself this question: “If every member of my church was just like me, what kind of church would my church be?”

”Let’s pretend” that your banker phoned you this morning and told you an anonymous donor who loves you very much has decided to deposit $864 into your bank account every day for as long as you live. That is a penny for every second in the day. You may ask, “Who in the world would do that?” But remember, this is a game of “Let’s pretend.”

Imagine having $864.00 deposited into your bank account — seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year – even if you lived to celebrate your one-hundredth birthday. That means your bank account would grow $315,360.00 every year. Who wouldn’t like for that to happen?

Let’s pretend, however, that there is a stipulation to the bequest – you must spend every cent of the money the same day that you receive it. No balance can be carried over to the following day. Each day the bank would cancel whatever sum you failed to spend.

If you were to receive such a call from your banker, you would probably say, “What is the joke? No one is going to make an offer like that.” And you would probably hang up. Or, in the event that you thought it could possibly be true, you would immediately begin to plan how you might spend that much money each day.

Playing “Let’s pretend” can be lots of fun – even though we realize the scenario mentioned above is only an imaginary one and not likely to ever become true. But, believe it or not, it is true! Someone who loves you very much deposits into your bank of time 86,400 seconds of time every single day of your life.

Each twenty-four hour day contains 86,400 seconds. There are sixty seconds in each minute, sixty minutes in each hour, and twenty-four hours in every single day that God gives us. We may use these increments of time in any way we choose. How we spend the time we have is vitally important, for none of it can ever be carried over on credit to the next day.

It is often difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to try to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. It is wise to make the most of our time. The days we have been given must be lived one at a time. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.

Someone has said that time is God’s way of preventing everything from happening at once. From midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow each of us has twenty-four hours – that’s 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. Time, like money, can be spent any way we choose, but we can spend it only once. It can be wasted, but it can never be recycled.

We all have the same amount of time every single day — whether we are rich or poor, old or young, single or married, educated or uneducated, employed or unemployed, a child in school or the President of the United States.

How did you spend your twenty-four hours yesterday? How are you spending them today? How will you spend them tomorrow? These are important questions.

At the end of each day the hours we have spent unwisely will be gone forever — for hours, like flowers, soon fade away. However, the hours we have spent glorifying God and serving mankind are on deposit in the bank of heaven and can never be lost.

The bank of heaven will never become bankrupt.

Christians believe that the baby born to Mary in Bethlehem was truly the Son of God, that eternity invaded history that day.  We also believe that “this same Jesus will come back in the same way His disciples saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

The New Testament does not teach that all evil will one day be eradicated from the earth, all problems solved, and health and wealth become every person’s experience as a result of human effort and progress.  The human heart is sinful.

The Bible teaches that the return by Christ to earth to claim His bride, the church, will be immediate and conclusive.  At that point the human experiment will end, illusion will give way to reality, the temporary will disappear before the permanent, and the King of Kings will be seen and recognized for who He is.

The thief in the night, the lightning flash, the sound of the last trumpet, the voice of God’s archangel – these may all be picture language.  Even so, they are pictures of an event that will be sudden, catastrophic, and decisive.

The humanist’s point of view resembles Christianity in that it encourages tolerance, love, understanding and the amelioration of the human condition through service.  But it is cruel in that it teaches that life on planet earth is the only life humans will ever have, that no place is being prepared in eternity for those who believe, that the only realities we will ever know are those we experience in the here and now.  What a tragedy!

When God decides that the human experiment has gone on long enough, Christ will come again.  “So you also must be ready at any time, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (Matthew 24:44).  Every knee will bow and every heart will confess that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This is the message of Advent: always be alert, vigilant and industrious, so that Christ’s coming at the end of our time on earth will not be a terror but an overwhelming joy.  Suffering, disease, mourning, pain, and death will not happen any more, for “the former things will have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).

According to an old saying, familiarity breeds contempt.  A window-washer who works on scaffolding hundreds of feet above the ground has to be on guard against this over-familiarity.  The man who works with high-voltage electricity must also be constantly aware of the danger he faces.

The danger Christians face during the days of Advent is unlikely to be contempt for the sacred season.  However, our familiarity with it may easily produce indifference.  In that event, the true wonder and mystery of it would leave us unmoved.

That is why, behind all our fun and activities with family or friends during Christmas, we should not lose a sense of awe at what God did on that eventful day in Bethlehem, or that Christ is coming again at a time of God’s own choosing.  “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day the Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42).

That all the other stars of the sky

Became a white mist in the atmosphere.

And by this they knew that the coming was near

Of the Prince foretold in prophecy.

Thus wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow concerning the Star of Bethlehem.  Of all the signs and wonders surrounding the birth of Christ it is perhaps the most mysterious.  It is certainly the most interesting.

After the birth of Jesus men who were obviously interested in astronomy came from the east to Jerusalem and inquired, “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” (Matthew 2:1-2).

These men were very likely astrologers, persons who consulted the stars to make predictions about what was going to happen in the world.  As they studied the night sky they saw something that, according to their belief, indicated a king had been born.

But what, exactly did they see?  There have been many theories.  Some Christians think that the star was a supernatural light – something never seen before, or since.  Some have conjectured that it was a comet, or a conjunction of planets.  Johannes Kepler thought it was a supernova – an exploding star.  Still others think it was a meteor shower.

What are we to make of these and other theories?  The place to start is with biblical facts.  First, we know that it was a heavenly object and that it made a sudden appearance in the east (Matthew 2:2).  Presumably the Magi had never seen anything like it before.  Otherwise, it hardly stands to reason that they would have followed it.

Second, it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.  This explains why the Magi stopped in Jerusalem to ask for directions instead of going straight to Bethlehem.  Then, the star reappeared!  This is the clear implication of Matthew 2:9-10.

One of the more prominent explanations is that the Magi witnessed several conjunctions of Jupiter, the planet they considered to represent kingship.  A number of such conjunctions took place in the years leading up to the death of Herod.

In September, 3 B.C., Jupiter came into conjunction with Regulus, the star of kingship, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo.  Leo was regarded by astrologers to be the constellation of kings, and it was associated with the Lion of Judah.

The conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus was repeated, not once but twice, in February and May of 2 B.C.  Finally, in June of 2 B.C., Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest objects in the sky except for the sun and the moon, experienced an even closer encounter when they appeared to touch each other in the sky.  To the naked eye they became a single object comparable to the setting sun.  Most scholars now believe that Jesus was born prior to the death of Herod.  It that be true, it is likely that none of these conjunctions of Jupiter and Regulus and Venus could have been the star the Magi followed.

The important thing is that the Magi followed it to Jerusalem, and then five miles further to Bethlehem.  Whatever it was, it was a remarkable demonstration of God’s sovereignty.  It means that from the beginning of time, God organized the entire universe in a way that would herald the birth of His Son, and our Savior, into the world.

Some people believe that when Neal Armstrong walked on the moon it was the most significant event in human history.  Not so!  It was when God walked on the earth!