In the Bible we see how we may not only follow the star, but even become one of the stars. There are two ways: first, by the Bible, and second, by the Spirit.
Second Peter 1:19 gives us the first secret: “We have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” We have the sure Word, the Bible. However, the sure Word is not the star; the Bible is not the star. Then what should we do? This verse says that since we have the sure Word, we need to take heed to it, we need to pay full attention to it, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in our hearts.
The word used for star here can be translated into English as phosphorous. This star is something as phosphorous, bringing light in the darkness. The darker the situation is, the brighter the phosphorous shines. The Bible should not simply be words in black and white; it should not be dead letters. We should take heed to the words of the Bible until something as phosphorous rises within us—that is, Christ as the morning star.
If we deal with the Word livingly and properly, it surely will turn into the living Christ. This is the turning point— the Word needs to be turned into Christ; the written Word needs to be turned into the living Word. We can never separate Christ from the living Word. We should take heed to the sure Word until it rises within us as Christ, as the phosphorous, as the day breaking through the darkness.
To have the Bible in our hands is one thing; to take heed to the Word until the morning star rises in our heart is another. To have the knowledge of the Bible is one thing, but to have a shining star rising in our spirit is another. To take the way of studying the Bible in a seminary means nothing. What we need today is to take the Word into us, to take heed to the living Word until something within rises and shines in our heart. Then we will have the star, and then we will be a star. This is not merely the knowledge about Christ, but Christ Himself as the living star.
If there are believers on this earth who love the divine Word, I believe we should be numbered among them. We love the Word, but not in the way of dead letters. We love the Word by taking heed to it until something within is dawning and arising in our heart—not the knowledge, not the written code, but the breaking through of day, the rising of the shining star.
What does this mean in practical experience? Sometimes we may take the Bible, read it, and feel that we receive nothing. Other times, however, when we open our heart and take heed to this sure Word, something within is shining, rising, dawning, breaking through. While we are pray-reading the verses of the Bible, there is a sense deep within of enlightening, of shining, and this shining creates a love toward the Lord Jesus. We feel that He is so lovable. We could say, “O Lord Jesus, I love You: I do not have words to express how lovely You are!” Many times by this shining we are beside ourselves with love to the Lord Jesus. That is Jesus coming to us as the dawning day, as the morning star rising in our hearts. I am not speaking of something I have learned from others, and I am not boasting; this is my experience. Many times when I was with this holy Word, something has risen within me like the daybreak. Oh, it is wonderful! The situation may not be bright, the surroundings may be full of darkness, but something within is enlightening, shining, filling with glory.
In the days of the wise men, the seeing of the star was a miraculous occurrence, but today to see the morning star is only normal and should be our regular experience. Day by day we need to have the morning star arising within our hearts. We should not merely read the Bible, and not even merely pray-read the Bible; we need to take heed to the sure Word until the day dawns and the morning star arises in our heart. We need to go on until we reach this point.
Today, therefore, the star comes from the living Word. I am so happy that in this verse we have the Word and the morning star together. First, we have the Word; second, by taking heed to the sure Word, we have the morning star rising in our heart. If we will simply go along continually with this inner, rising star, we will consistently be in the Spirit. This is the New Testament service.
In 2 Peter we have the sure Word, but in Revelation we have the seven Spirits. Revelation 3:1 says, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” The hand of Jesus holds not only the seven stars, but also the seven Spirits. This means that the seven Spirits are one with the seven stars, and the seven stars are one with the seven Spirits. If we have the living Word as the morning star rising within us and we are one with the seven Spirits, eventually we will become the stars. We not only have the star shining within us, but by looking to the star and following in the Spirit we become the stars.