For thousands of years, God had been orchestrating signs to lead people to Jesus. One of the earliest prophecies in Scripture is found in Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel.”

For centuries, faithful Jews watched for the signs pointing to the Star of Jacob to come true, but how did the wise men know the new star they saw in the east was announcing a Jewish King? Why did they make such an arduous journey to meet Him and bring Him such expensive gifts? Could they have been taught the prophecies of by someone like Daniel, a leader of the wise men of Babylon during the exile? We don’t know for sure, but the presence of these men affirm what God had been trying to tell Israel all along—that Jesus would be the Savior of the world, not just the King of the Jews.

As the Christmas story unfolds, we see some were not eager to welcome Jesus into their lives. The religious leaders in Jerusalem knew well the signs of the Messiah and even pointed the wise men to look for Jesus in Bethlehem, but they didn’t go with the wise men to see if the prophecies had come true. Herod, tried to manipulate the wise men into leading him to Jesus so he could murder Him. When they went out of their way to avoid Herod on their return trip, Herod murdered all of the baby boys under two years old in the area in an attempt to remove the perceived threat to his throne.

Every work of God will be fought by the Enemy. But even with all of the death and scandal threaded through the Christmas story, the prevailing message that people still focus on more than 2,000 years later is one of joy, hope, and peace. As it was with the shepherd and the wise me, finding Jesus changes everything. Jesus didn’t come to make our lives better but to transform them completely.

Those who are wise will still seek Him today and still find Him eager to breathe wonder, joy, and peace into their weary worlds. And when your life has been changed, you can then become a shining star leading others to Jesus until His return.