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Just this week I began reading the New Testament again
Just one chapter a day, not really looking for anything in particular, just whatever God might want to show me.
In chapter two of Matthew it talks about the Magi coming to visit Jesus after His birth. The notes in my Bible say that they were probably members of a learned religious class from the region now called Iran and that they specialized in astrology, medicine and natural science. Dictionary.com says that they were the Zoroastrian priests of the ancient Medes and Persians, and were probably sorcerers or magicians.
Either way, they were intelligent men, independent thinkers and men of some great means. When these men heard of the birth of the Christ child, they considered Him to be worthy of their thoughts, time and treasure.
Did they really believe that He was the Savior of the world, or did they just want to feed their extensive intellect some more? We cannot know for sure, we are however told, that they did believe Him to be the King of the Jews.
A couple of verses lit up my heart and mind during this read.
I had never before considered the REACTION of these notable men when they learned of this birth.
For one thing, women always have babies. That is what they do. This is not an oddity. So something had to light up their hearts and minds to even think to make the trip to see, and worship this … baby.
Here is what “Lit up” for me.
1. They were over overjoyed see the star that would guide them v.10
2. On seeing Jesus and His mother Mary, they bowed down and worshipped Him v.11
3. They opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts v.11b
4. They had been warned of Herod in dream and so returned by another way v.12
Here, I believe, is how it pertains to you and me.
1. God has given us His Word, His Son and the Holy Spirit. Should we not be overjoyed? A sign that He wants to guide us? Having been raised in a family that went to church every week it is easy for me to be lazy and think, “Oh that.” Bible? I probably have five of my own, and access to hundreds more. Many have given their lives for just one page.
2. We humans give glory to movie stars, sports teams, TV shows, doctors, writers, apparel, and sin. Should we not instead bow and give homage to the Holy Lamb of God, who became human so that He could take away the sin of the world? One should sound crazier than the other to us.
3. God created the earth and everything in it. It is His. Yes, it is ours as well, but only because He gave it to us. In our gratitude, I believe we should be willing to open our treasures back to Him for His use, and His glory. The Bible plainly teaches that He WILL NOT share His glory with another. We so don’t want to be guilty of stealing His glory and replacing it with something of far lesser value. It will not bode well for us to be selfish in this way. Instead, let our time and talents be used to help others to achieve greater knowledge of Him and all He has given us.
4. When we find ourselves filled with the knowledge of who He is, we can then turn a different way. Instead of always seeing the negative in a situation, we can see it as an opportunity for growth. When we see where we have been wrong, He will allow us to see how we can do things a different way. The path of our lives can be changed. When we open our hearts and minds to Him, He will show us great and mighty things that we did not know. His ways are most often completely opposite of the way we did things in the past, but that should be the fun of it. What an adventure to learn new and better things all the time!
So with all that, I’ll end by asking you these questions;
1. Are you overjoyed with your life?
2. Have you bowed your knee in worship to Jesus?
3. Have your opened your treasure box and offered your gifts back to Him?
4. Have you turned from your sin and gone another way?
5. If you have ……… Amazing, well done.
6. If haven’t ………….. Would you like to?
Just say something like this to God;
Dear God,
I lack Your joy in my life, I would like to experience it. Please show me how I can honor You and give You glory. Help me to turn over to You the key to my treasure box so that all you have gifted me with can give You glory. Help me to turn from my wrong doing, to set aside my earthly knowledge, and to trade it for Your heavenly knowledge. Help me to go a different, the way that keeps me close to You. I thank you in advance being on the path with me, and for bringing along others that will help me to see the path more clearly.
Amen.
God bless you today – For you are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.
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