Star of Wonder

If you ever wanted to focus your heart on the truth of Christmas, Angela Hunt’s Star of Wonder: An Advent Devotional to Illuminate the People, Places, and Purpose of the First Christmas is the book for you! This isn’t a “quick bite” devotional that you can read in a few minutes. Hunt delves deeply into biblical events and illustrates how they connect to Jesus as Messiah.

The book is divided into four parts: The Places of Christmas, The Prophecies of Christmas, The People of Christmas, and The Purpose of Christmas. I particularly liked the Prophecies section. Lately I’ve taken a more intense interest in how Jesus is the fulfillment of so many prophecies in the Old Testament, and this section of Star of Wonder fits right in with my studies. I also like Hunt’s focus on a couple of people that we might not necessarily think of in terms of Christmas. The fact that it goes beyond the expected is one of my favorite parts of this devotional!

Hunt ties in a good deal of Jewish history with the Christian faith here. I grew up in church. I’ve heard about Jesus since I was a wee girl. But the churches I attended when I was young never really made the connection of the Jesus we followed to the Jesus who was born into and a part of the Jewish culture. I can appreciate the richness of that tradition, and it informs my reading of Scripture to have information about Jesus’ historical and cultural background.

Each daily devotional includes “A Moment for Wonder” that gives you something to contemplate, and each closes with a prayer. I really like the prayers. Sometimes having something structured to pray helps me focus.

If you’re looking for an Advent devotional that lets you go beyond the traditional Christmas stories and songs, I highly recommend Star of Wonder.

Thanks to JustRead Publicity Tours and the author for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.