Stars...They Already Have a Name!

Have you ever sung this nursery rhyme:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!"

Stars are amazing! I find it fascinating and never tiring to take a moment to look up at the stars at night. I was particularly mindful of stars this past week as my family gathered outside to look at the lunar eclipse. What a spectacular cosmic display of beauty! I was also reminded about stars while I was listening to the radio as I was driving home from work and heard a very interesting advertisement that invited me to pay nearly $55 to "name a star after someone." I thought that was very interesting. If I sent this company my money, I would receive a "Star Chart" containing the name of the constellation and the telescopic coordinates where I could "find my star" by looking through a telescope. The more I thought about this the more it sounded like a waste of money…although at first it sounded like a neat idea. I began to wonder about what God would think about a company taking peoples’ money to "name a star" after someone. So, I looked in the Bible to see what God had to say. I found the answer in Psalm 147:4 which says in the Contemporary English Version that "[God] decided how many stars there would be in the sky and gave each one a name." WOW! All the stars in the sky ALREADY have a name! Although we may never know all the names God has given to the stars, we can take comfort in realizing that God not only knows how many stars are in the Universe, but that He knows each one by their name. So, the next time you look up at the sky at night and see all the stars, just remember that YOU CAN KEEP YOUR MONEY and your suggestions as to "what to name a star" because the God who placed each one of those stars in the universe is the same God who has already given each one of them their name. May astronomy never be the same again! Happy star-gazing!