09
Dec
“When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:10 and 11 NLT)
Matthew 2 describes the wise men’s response to seeing Christ for the first time. They traveled from the east to Bethlehem following an extraordinary star. Since they were astrologers, God knew what would get their attention. The star ignited a holy intrigue that drew them closer to Him. Filled with anticipation, the wise men were determined to find “the newborn king of the Jews…to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2)
As the star stood still, the wise men were filled with joy. The beacon had served its purpose.
When they saw the Christ child with His mother, they bowed down. Their reflex to His royalty was overwhelming humility. He was worthy of their praise and their journey, because Jesus was the destination.
However, the worship didn’t stop when the wise men stood to their feet. They opened their treasure chests and gave Him what was costly. Whatever you and I value the most, God wants us to open our hearts and give it to Him too. He treasures our trust.
What currently has your attention? It may look like something shiny. Perhaps, it is something you want to wish away. Either way, there is a gift in the making.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh symbolize Christ’s royalty, divinity, and death, respectively. Likewise, our trust symbolizes our yield to His Lordship, our respect for His Sovereignty and our willingness to die to anything apart from His will.
When diificulities arise, offering the treasure of my trust to Him is not always an easy thing to do. But as I consider the salvation Christ gives, it becomes the worshipful thing to do.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21 NKJV)
Like the star, His will leads us to something good, even when something good seems distant. However, we need to follow His Word, like the wise men followed the star.
Ariel
I love this, Joy! I’m always grateful for your words. I’ve been reading “De Nyew Testament” which is a Gullah Sea Island Creole translation and the words they use for the wise men really struck me today: “Wen de man dem fom de east see dat star dey, dey been too glad. Dey been glad til dey ain know wa fa do.” (Matthew 2: 10)They were so glad they didn’t know what to do. I love that image. All our love to you and the family!
Joy
Hi Ariel! You are taking on quite the challenge, reading the New Testament in Gullah – oh my! “Not knowing what to do” can happen to me any day. I’m so grateful we can ask for wisdom from God. Love to you and your family too!
Lucille Gaither
Can you imagine the world when the baby Jesus was born, i.e. earth and heaven? The shepherds found the baby and worshipped him. Later, wise men came and worshipped the young child. God gave an order to the angels, the sons of God, the morning stars as Job calls them – “…And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him…” Wonder did they shout for joy this time, too. Can you just imagine the myriads of them? My finite mind cannot but I certainly can worship as best as I can and hope that it is acceptable to him.
Joy
Amen Lucille! Amen!