One of the Bible accounts that people love to think about, especially at Christmastime, is the journey of the wise men to honor the child Jesus.See Matt. 2:1-12 . The arrival of these gift-bearing travelers from another country to pay homage to the infant that would one day be more fully recognized as the Messiah, is an early evidence that Jesus' life held meaning far beyond the reach of a particular time or place.
At the heart of this account is the humble willingness of the wise men to follow a star that they rightly felt was pointing to where they could find this blessed child. Their wisdom is proved both in their recognition of the significance of the star and in their obedience in going where it was guiding them. Perhaps there were others who also glimpsed the star, but who just turned back to what they were doing before sighting it.
Do you ever wonder which way you would have responded? Would you have left your familiar habitat to follow the guiding star? Or would you have returned to whatever you were doing? This question is not as hypothetical as it may at first seem! In an article called "Christmas" in Miscellaneous Writings, Mary Baker Eddy says, "The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour: the light of Truth, to cheer, guide, and bless man as he reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection dawning upon human imperfection,—that calms man's fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sickness, and death." Mis., p.320.
