The new year has started—it’s February, guys—and yet I can’t get Christmas off my mind. Perhaps it’s the monochrome frozen landscape around me, but I yearn for brightly coloured twinkling lights and warm, turkey dinners under a star-lit sky.

If there’s one story to cross my mind during the Christmas season, it’s the nativity story. It’s what Christmas is all about. A virgin birth, an inn with no room, a stable where angels and shepherds alike can view the beautiful scene. And yet, out of it all, three particular figures come to mind: the three Magi.

Regardless of when the three Magi found baby Jesus—in their few-year-long journey to find the newborn—they found him by following the Bethlehem star. What is this star? I have tried to find information regarding this star and where it exists today, without much success. I wouldn’t be able to point it out in the night sky even if you paid me. Some say that this “star” was really the conjunction of the Sun, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Historically, a planet conjunction of this type indicated a royal birth. Since Magi were scholars of astrology and astronomy under King Herod’s command, they would be able, and required, to recognize such a sign to find potential threats to Herod.

If I were a history buff, I’d be able to dazzle you with facts, dates, names, and context. But that’s not my forte. What stood out to me, however, was how incredible it was for God to use a star (or multi-planet conjunction), to draw the Magi to Jesus. God didn’t use a goat to get their attention. He didn’t send a swarm of locusts. He used an astronomical miracle to attract and guide the Magi to where they needed to be. And if God can align planets to get their attention, think of what else he can do to capture yours.

It goes to show that the God of all creation will meet you where you’re at. Keep listening. Sometimes even I forget that the Lord knows my heart better than anyone, and he knows what will grab my attention. Maybe a worship song will call you. Perhaps a painting, a book passage, or even a bird call. A word may even be planted into your good friend or family member’s heart.

But most importantly, we must remember to keep our hearts open. What is your Christmas star? What draws you back to Christ?