Early Christmas Presence - Day 11
Early Christmas Presence
~The Wise Men - Magi - Kings~
Early Christmas Presence— The Presence of Jesus brought Kings to their knees, worship from their mouths, and an invitation to their treasures (hearts).
Matthew 2:1-3; 7-11(ESV)—Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 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.” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
We meet the Wise Men early in Matthew and see that they connect with Jesus in person quite some time after that. Their story is simple, but it is one of my favorites. These men were wise; their opinions were valued; their abilities commissioned; their treasures desired. Yet they followed a moving star, only seen at night, on a journey of discovery to the King of Kings.
When they “saw the child,” they bowed down, they worshipped Him and “they opened their treasures.”
They had nothing unique, aside from themselves, to give to the Giver and their response showed this.
Concerning His Presence. THEY SAW HIM and the sight of Him made them fall to their faces in reverence, lift their voices in worship and open their hearts and their hands in surrender.
Yes, they gave “gifts” that were were from natural resources the Word Himself had spoken into existence. They returned to the Creator what was already His--and in that truth--we are reminded of why He came. To bring back that which had been lost.
The Presence of Jesus makes the proud humble.
The Presence of Jesus confounds the wise.
The Presence of Jesus evokes praise and worship that is due.
The Presence of Jesus opens the hearts of man—for where the “treasures” are, the hearts will be also.
SOMETHING FINAL TO BRING CLOSURE—ABOUT THE READER. HERE.
I have a two year old, and like most toddlers, she loves to play hide and seek. It makes her giddy to close her eyes, count as high as she can and then race around the house looking for mommy.
The look on her face when she finds me is a burst of enough joy to sustain a lifetime.
This game of hide and seek so often resembles our relationship with the Lord. We feel the need to hide from time to time and wait it out as long as we can stand it until we are prompted to seek the Presence of The Lord.
The thing is, God wants us in His presence all the time.
The manifest Presence of God. Simply reading that can seem so big or unattainable. After our Early Christmas Presence journey, we’ve reflected on who God is for us and in our lives, and learned that God chose extremely ordinary and often atypical people to first encounter Jesus in the flesh.
If God decided to use those people to write the story of Christmas - the coming of Christ, what should that tell us? It should tell us that regardless of any circumstance we find ourselves in now, the Presence of God is readily available to us.
Oh that we might know how much our Heavenly Father longs to be with us.
All that is needed is a heart to seek him.