Many years ago, at Christmastime, my family gathered to watch the children perform a nativity play. As the eldest cousin, the rehearsal (singular, hastily implemented that morning) had been overseen by me. I wrote a script, directed my budding actors and actresses, and all seemed to be as prepared as possible.
The performance began. All went well, until the time came for the star to appear, guiding the wise men. Where was the star?
We’d forgotten to bring it. My hand quickly became the star, and all went as well as improvised home plays can.
But we forgot the star. We remembered the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, we remembered the crowns for the wise men, but the star was a forgotten afterthought.
The very first mention of stars in the Bible (Genesis 1:16) reads a bit like an afterthought:
‘…he also made the stars.’
God made the sun and moon, the ‘big players’, and then ‘also made’ the stars.
Perhaps some of us feel like an ‘Also Made.’
An also-ran.
An afterthought amongst more apparently talented, or busy, or able, or successful people.
Yet it was a star that led the wise men to Jesus.
‘And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem.’ (Matthew 2:19)
Not the sun.
Not the moon.
The star.
The ‘also made’.
The ‘also made’ led people to Jesus.
And what could be more important than that?
I was recently reminded of a Mother Teresa quote:
‘Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.’
Jesus said, in Matthew 25, that whatever we do for others, we do for Him.
Our prayers and actions reflect the heart of God.
They show people Jesus.
And Jesus says, “thank you”.
Something else about the Also Made:
It stopped where Jesus was.
‘It (the star) went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.’ (Matthew 2:9b)
May we, too, take time to stop where Jesus is.
To rest in His presence.
To be renewed.
To be reassured.
To be reminded that we are not an afterthought to God.
He chose us even before He made the world (Ephesians 1:4).
He Also Made us because he wanted to.
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (John 1:14)
Stop where Jesus is.
Stay where Jesus is.
Do ordinary (whatever ‘ordinary’ looks like for you) things with extraordinary love.
‘…then you will shine like stars in the sky.’ (Philippians 2:15)
I love this Emily! ‘Do ordinary things with great love’ is a favourite saying. So interesting, as my daughter was telling me about a children’s story she wrote when she was doing English Language A’ Level. It was about a star that lost its shine but then turned into a sun. Your lovely post reminded me of that. Thank you for your inspiring and beautiful thoughts.
Thank you for commenting, Deborah, and reading the blog. Yes, it’s a great saying, and so much in it! Your daughter’s book sounds lovely, too.
A lovely post! Very apt for those of us who work in Care. xx
Thank you, Alison (and apologies that I’ve only just seen your comment)!