Our Christmas Straw Star

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Holiday Celebration

We wandered slowly in the early darkness of the cold winter’s evening.  While we sipped the cups of hot Gluhwein we were holding, our hands were warmed, nurturing feelings of holiday cheer.  The smell of grilling bratwurst tempted our tastebuds as we anticipated the taste of the sausage with mustard on a German bread roll.  The sights of nutcracker soldiers, hand-made scarfs and mittens, and traditional Christmas decorations tugged at our wallets as my wife and I strolled through a Christkindlesmarkt in the festively lit up downtown plaza in Nuremberg, Germany. 

But it was the Strohsterne “Straw Star” that caught our eye, an ornament for the Christmas tree which would remind us not only of our visit to the market, but also of the significance of that starry night on the first Christmas so long ago.  Scripture tells us that the Wise Men “were overjoyed” when the star they were following stopped over the place where the Christ-child lay and “they bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:10-11).

I wonder what drives us to worship today.  It is easy for us to get distracted by the things of this world, including our finances.  Not that money isn’t important, but it is only a tool for us to use while we journey through life on this earth.  Let us make sure we are on the same journey as the Wise Men, truly seeking out the One to be worshipped.  Let us be wise with the financial blessings the Lord has entrusted to us, just as the Wise Men did when “they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

We still enjoy a cup of hot Gluhwein at Christmas, and we still ponder as we gaze at the Straw Star hanging on our tree each year, but I pray that we may never lose focus on what should be adored: “The Light of the World” (John 8:12).

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

(208) 697-3699

doug@christianwm.com