Following the Star: A Leadership Story from the Road to Bethlehem

by Lee Miller

They didn’t set out looking for comfort.
They weren’t chasing opportunity.
They weren’t trying to protect influence or preserve position.

They were looking for a King.

Long before they ever saw a child in Bethlehem, the Magi had already decided something that most leaders never do: truth was worth the journey, no matter the cost. When the star appeared, it interrupted their routines, rearranged their priorities, and demanded movement. And they went.

That’s how real leadership always begins – not with clarity about the destination, but with conviction about the calling.

The Long Road of Discernment

The road from the East to Jerusalem was long, uncertain, and expensive. No angelic choir followed them. No crowds applauded their obedience. Just a star in the sky and ancient words written centuries earlier – prophecies that spoke of a ruler, a scepter, a kingdom not built by human hands.

They knew the Scriptures well enough to trust what they were seeing:
A star would rise.
A ruler would come.
The nations would be drawn to His light.

So they moved.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they did what leaders do – they asked the obvious question out loud:
“Where is He who has been born King?”

That single question exposed everything.

Herod heard it and felt threatened.
Jerusalem heard it and grew uneasy.
The Magi asked it and kept going.

Leadership always reveals itself by how we respond to truth we didn’t control.

Gold: Kneeling Before the Right Authority

When they finally arrived in Bethlehem, the scene didn’t match the magnitude of the moment. No palace. No throne. No guard detail. Just a young mother, a child, and quiet holiness filling the room.

And the Magi knelt.

Before the child spoke a word, before He performed a miracle, before He proved anything to anyone, they opened their treasures. The first gift was gold.

Gold was not sentimental. It was deliberate.

Gold said, “You are the rightful King.”
Gold said, “Our authority bows to Yours.”
Gold said, “We recognize what others fear.”

Herod clung to power.
The Magi surrendered it.

That is the dividing line between insecure leadership and faithful leadership. One protects the throne. The other recognizes the King.

Frankincense: When Leadership Becomes Worship

Then came frankincense.

This gift went beyond politics. Frankincense was used in worship – burned in the presence of God. By offering it, the Magi acknowledged something deeper than royalty. This child was not merely born to rule; He was worthy of worship.

Leadership without worship becomes brittle.
Strong on the outside.
Hollow on the inside.

The Magi didn’t just honor Him with words. They honored Him with devotion. Their journey became an act of worship, and their leadership posture shifted from control to reverence.

They weren’t managing outcomes anymore.
They were responding to holiness.

That’s what frankincense does – it reminds leaders that prayer must come before planning, humility before authority, and surrender before strategy.

Myrrh: The Cost No One Wants to Talk About

Then came the final gift.

Myrrh.

Quiet. Heavy. Unsettling.

Myrrh was used for burial.

Why bring myrrh to a child?

Because the Magi understood what most leaders resist: this King would win by sacrifice, not force. His reign would not be built on conquest, but on obedience unto death.

Leadership under Christ always carries weight.
Sometimes that weight is misunderstood.
Sometimes it is lonely.
Sometimes it is painful.

Myrrh reminds us that the path of obedience often includes suffering – and that suffering is not a sign of failure, but faithfulness.

Leaving by Another Way

After worship, after the gifts, after the silence of that sacred moment, the Magi slept – and God spoke again. A warning. A redirection.

Do not return to Herod.

So they left another way.

That final detail matters more than we often realize. You don’t encounter the true King and go home unchanged. You don’t worship honestly and then resume business as usual. You don’t kneel before truth and then walk the same road back.

They came seeking a King.
They left having met Him.

And everything changed.

The Leadership Question That Remains

The Magi didn’t write books.
They didn’t build institutions.
They didn’t leave monuments behind.

But they modeled something leaders still struggle to live out:

• Gold  –  submitting authority
• Frankincense  –  living in worship
• Myrrh  –  accepting the cost

The question for leaders today is not whether we admire the story.

It’s this:

What are we willing to lay at His feet?
Our influence?
Our ambition?
Our comfort?
Our reputation?

Because leadership, like the journey of the Magi, is never just about where we’re going.

It’s about who we recognize as King along the way – and whether we’re willing to leave changed, by another road.