“A people living in darkness has seen a great light.” —Matthew 4:16

When I was a kid, on the Feast of Epiphany, I had the esteemed job of moving the three king figures from our family manger scene into the barn to bring their gifts to Jesus. Funny thing was one of glass kings had a foot problem. Not sure if he had a broken foot or the figure was just flawed in some way, but he always tipped forward. A 30-second task turned into many minutes of frustration trying to finagle that king into a position to keep him standing up, rather than falling down flat on his face in front of Jesus.

The kings arrived because they were following the star to worship the new king- Jesus. We are to be like the kings. In the sense the purpose of each person’s life is to follow the star, find Jesus, give Him the gift of our life, worship Him, and manifest the light of Christ to the ends of the earth (see Mt 2:10ff). Then the prophecy will be fulfilled: “A people living in darkness has seen a great light. On those who inhabit a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen” (Mt 4:16).

During this Feast of Epiphany, let us follow

• the star of repentance, for “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17),
• the star of prayer “and receive at His hands whatever we ask” (1 Jn 3:22), and
• the star of service. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before Him; with trembling pay homage to Him,….” (Ps 2:11)

In effect, let us follow the star of obedience. Those who obey Him will find Him and remain in Him, and He will remain in them (1 Jn 3:24).

May we be wise enough to give ourselves totally to Christ, let Him break new ground in our lives, and take us where we’ve never been before. Let us plunge ever more deeply into the infinite love of the triune God. Let us be consumed by the fire of His love (see Heb 12:29).