Constellations
We just finished a unit on space in 3rd grade. Maybe that’s why this thought popped into my head as I was studying Philippians 2. Maybe it was because I have seen (and been) people who seem to get what I am about to write.
Philippians 2:15 tells us we can “shine like stars as [we] hold fast firmly to the word of life” (NIV). As I was studying for our ladies’ class from this chapter, one point made by the author of our book was about Paul’s “companion stars.”
In one of my Bibles I have marked the four examples of humility that Paul gives in chapter 2: Jesus, himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus if memory serves.
These two thoughts came together as I realized that Paul is not threatened by, or jealous of, his fellow stars.
Individual stars have great beauty in the night sky. But what about when people see them as groups that function together to make a constellation? I have heard the Southern Cross is amazing to see. I’m fond of Cassiopeia.
The point is no star dims the other part of the constellation. They all shine in their own place and work together to show beauty. For that matter, so do all the stars in the Milky Way. Why can’t we? After all …
“it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
AUTHOR: Amber Tatum
