God made the first stars on the fourth day of creation, before He made animals, plants or humans. (Genesis 1:16) So we stars have pretty much been around since the beginning. We’ve played various roles in the history of the world. God told Abraham to look up at us and try to count us. (Genesis 15:5) As unbelievable as it sounded to Abraham, God promised that his offspring would outnumber us. Like all God’s promises, that one was accomplished.
As lovely as we are, we are only creations of God, just like you humans. We are not to be worshipped (Deuteronomy 4:19), rather our light is to shine to the glory of God. Throughout time, humans have gotten that wrong. Kings Ahaz (2 Kings 17:16) and Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3), to name two, worshiped the host of heaven. That would be us, the stars, along with the moon and the sun. But God kept trying to bring the people back to Him. You see, we are to worship the Creator, not the creation. Nehemiah told the people that it was God who had made the heavens with all their host (Nehemiah 9:6), and the psalmist says we stars were created to rule over the night (Psalm 136:9).
When you look up, you see so many of us that you may not realize each one of us is uniquely created, just like you. In fact, God knows each of us by name (Psalm 147:4; Isaiah 40:26). And He commands us to worship him. Psalm 148:3 puts it like this: Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars.
So you see we have more in common than you may have realized. We are both, we stars and you humans, created by God to worship him. For those of you who lead many to righteousness, you will shine like us forever and ever (Daniel 12:3).
That brings me to the night that changed everything. And I was there. Out of all the stars, God chose me to light the sky the night His Son came to earth. At first, I was nervous. Me? But I’m just a regular star. You see, stars, like people, differ from one another in splendor (I Corinthians 15:41), and I knew by looking around, there were stars better qualified for the job. I wasn’t much more than a nebula, that’s a baby star, not much more than a whirling ball of dust and gas. But God wanted me. Then I reminded myself that God knew my name, He had created me to rule over the night, to drive away the darkness. If He wanted me to do this, I would do it to His glory.
I moved over that manger where the small child was sleeping and I started singing to myself. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” And shine I did. As bright as I could. With God’s grace, I burned so brightly that Wise men far to the east saw my light and traveled a long distance to worship Jesus, the Christ.
That night the world was changed forever. God entered into the history of humankind as a small baby to live among the people. I watched it all in awe and wonder at the goodness of our Creator. I watched as Mary and Joseph welcomed their baby, and as shepherds came to witness the miracle for themselves. I hope my light brought some comfort to them. I did my best to give glory to God.
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