Hi how are you today? Merry Christmas🎄🎄.
It is so hard to believe it is Christmas already. I love this season but not for the shopping etc but for the reminder of where Jesus came from. He didn’t come out of heaven as a fully grown man or He never would have known our childhood struggles. Nor would He have known our teenage ones.
He came as a baby so He could grow up and experience life in every stage so that He would know how to pray for us. Isn’t that the best news? We don’t have to do life alone.
This week I want to focus on the wise men. There is a saying around that wise men still seek Jesus. But that’s not what I am going to write on. This season we all need encouragement so I am going to look at the fact that the wise men teach us to recognise the light and then follow it and keep following it.
Let’s look at their story in Matthew chapter 2 in the English Standard Version.
:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise menfrom the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Let’s look at the first point. These wise men saw the star when it rose. How did they see it? Were they looking for it? What made the star so significant they wanted to see who or what was at the end of it?
Tradition states that these wise men were probably astrologers – men who studied the stars. Therefore they would have been used to looking at the night skies. I love what God did for them and does to us also – He appears in our normal ordinary everyday life. So in 2024 let’s look for God to do extraordinary things in our ordinary.
Second point is that they knew this star signalled royalty. They told Herod they had come to find and worship the king of the Jews. What signs does God put around our lives that remind us of Him? Is it in the crash of the ocean waves, the eagle flying overhead, the new flowers in spring or the singing of the birds. Let’s get good at reminding ourselves daily of the majesty of God.
The third point is that there was an innate longing in those wise men to follow that star. Just think about it. They weren’t Jews so they may have travelled a long distance. They would have had to pack clothes and food and tell their families they would see them in a number of months.
What glories must have been in that star to put that type of longing in them. Have we got the same dedication to follow Jesus and keep following Him even when times get hard.
To do that, there must be a change of desire on the inside of each of us. That only comes when we say yes to Jesus.
My question to me and to you this Christmas is are we going to keep following Jesus when times get rough or are we only going to follow Him when we are being totally blessed by Him. Those wise men teach us that perseverance is the key and if we keep going, one day we will see the face of Jesus. I can’t wait.
I pray you all have a great Christmas with your family and friends. If you are alone, just remember Jesus loves you and is with you.
Until next time, keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you heaps
Katen
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