John 1:12 – But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (NLT)

No one alive had ever witnessed it.

On December 21, 2020, the first day of the winter solstice, two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, aligned so closely that they appeared almost as one, shining so brightly that we could see them with a good pair of binoculars. The planets' alignment was called the "Christmas Star" or the "Bethlehem Star" because of when it happened. This particular positioning of planets had not been so close since 1623. When Johannes Kepler studied the Great Conjunction of 1603, he calculated that such a conjunction had occurred in 7 BC, and some thought that this may have been what the Magi followed to the newborn Christ Child.

Fortunately, the Monday and Tuesday of the Great Conjunction saw clear weather. Thirty minutes after sunset, I stepped out our front door, looked at the southwest sky, and hoped to see the "star". Sure enough, the conjunction appeared where scientists said it would.

2020 was the year when we saw a pandemic ravage the world, a year of social distancing and Christmas changes. So, on the Tuesday night, my wife and I joined my mom and stepdad alone for our Christmas get-together. They had tried the previous night to locate the star with no success. I took them to their front porch, pointed over an oak tree, and said, "There." Mom replied, "But that doesn't look like the star that the wise men saw." She, of course, expected to see a star matching an artist's rendition.

As wonderful as this Great Conjunction was, it holds no comparison to another great connection: one not visible to the naked eye, and one that occurs in the spiritual realm when God accepts us as His children.

Jesus tells how this process aligns. We believe and accept Him. Not just believing that God exists or that Jesus was a historical figure, but believing that Jesus was God's Son sent to pay for the sins of the world, coupled with faith in Him as our Saviour and Lord. When we express this type of belief, God comes into our life through the presence of His Spirit and forms a great conjunction.

Once conjoined, we shine brightly, as the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn did. Others can't help but see with the naked eye what has happened in our spirits and souls. Something changes on the inside that affects our outside — something that has never happened before, and something that will never have to happen again.

Seeing something that no one had seen since the Middle Ages awed me. Knowing that perhaps it could be the same arrangement that led the Magi to the Christ Child made it even more special. I felt a sense of peace in the middle of a year that had done all within its power to steal peace. But the greater peace came in knowing that a more special conjunction had taken place inside me.

Are you familiar with that most extraordinary conjunction?

Prayer: Father, thank You for joining us to Yourself in the greatest conjunction ever. Amen.

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About the author:

Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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