Shining Stars

            Have you ever stopped to look up at the sky on a clear night?

            Growing up, I remember my dad taking us outside to watch shooting stars and famous comets streak across the sky. I always gazed in wonder at the vast, limitless star-filled sky. Tiny white lights were strung everywhere, some in patterns, some not, but all were magnificent.

            Even now as a young woman, I’m amazed and awestruck when I tilt my head towards a clear sky not distorted by city lights. Sometimes, I simply lie in the grass and stare; their beauty is breathtaking.

            God compares Christians to shining stars, but unfortunately, our beauty is shadowed to the world like stars are to those who live in a big city.

            Philippians 2:14-16a states, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (NIV).

            I don’t know about you, but this verse convicts me many days, and I’m not proud of that fact, either. God has blessed me with so many things, yet some days, I find myself complaining more than being thankful. As a Christian, I have been given more than I ever can deserve even if I only received grace.

            Followers of Christ have no reason to complain or argue because we have been given so much. We are children of God. What more do we need?

            Moving along in the scripture in Philippians, the word tells us that if we do not complain or argue, we will “become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation” (Phil. 2:15). Do you know why stars shine brightly? It’s because the sky around them is so different from them. In the same way, when we as Christians are not marked by complaining and arguing, we are vastly different than the rest of the world. Being content with what you have in a world that always wants more is strange to many, but how many people long to be satisfied? All people are looking for satisfaction, and we have that in Christ.

            When we live our lives finding sufficiency in God’s grace and in the knowledge of God’s unfathomable love, we shine like stars. No longer do we need material possessions to make us happy and all that we do have are blessings in which we thank God for. When fully relying on Christ and conforming to His image, no longer do we seek to find what others can give us, but we long to serve so that others may joy in God’s grace as well.

            Today, I challenge you to shine like stars so that others will gaze in wonder and long to know more about God.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas