Welcome to this Christmas Eve edition of the Our Daily Bread Devotional. I'm Kirsten Holmberg,

and I called today's reading The Light of Christ. My husband and I have always enjoyed

attending the Christmas Eve service at our church.

In the early years of our marriage, we had a special tradition of bundling up in warm clothing

after the service to hike up a nearby hill where 350 glowing lights were strung from tall poles in the shape of a star.

There, often in the snow, we'd whisper our reflections on Jesus' miraculous birth while we gazed out

over the city. Meanwhile, many people in the town were looking up at the bright, string-light star from the valley below.

That star is a reminder of the birth of our Savior.

The Bible tells of Magi from the East who arrived in Jerusalem seeking the one who had been born King of the Jews.

They'd been watching the skies and had seen the star when it rose.

Their journey took them onward from Jerusalem to Bethlehem,

the star going ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child

was.

There they bowed down and worshipped him.

Christ is the source of light in our lives, both figuratively as the one who guides us, and literally as the one who created the sun,

moon, and stars in the sky. Like the Magi, who were overjoyed when they saw his star,

our greatest delight is in knowing him as the Savior who came down from the heavens to dwell among us.

We have seen his glory.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Matthew, Chapter 2,

verses 1 and 2 and 9 through 12.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem and Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi

from the east, came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?

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