Greetings to you all! Christmas- what a special season! There truly is a sense of joy, cheer and bliss; there is magic in the air and wonder sprinkled in on the snow-covered trees. The Christmas lights are not only bright and sparkly to the eyes, but they do something delightful to the soul- maybe it’s a shimmering dose of hope, maybe it reminds you of your childhood, maybe it’s simply the excitement of holiday spirit, or maybe it’s just some good feeling that we can’t even explain. In Upstate New York, green leaves and 70 degrees take a long vacation, but Christmas comes in to break up the lack of warmth with a warmth in our hearts. God is good! For Christians, this season evokes a whole other level of joy and awe as we remember our Savior, the personification of light and love being born into the world.
Well, when I was contemplating what to write this column on, something came to me quite quickly. It’s this idea of desperation, intense desire, longing, eagerness, and sacrifice that the wise men from the East showed in Matthew chapter 2. Let’s go right to the scripture. Starting at verse 1- “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 have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’”
It is believed that these wise men, also called magi, travelled between 800 and 900 miles from most likely Persia, or modern-day Iran to get to Jesus (gotquestions.org). Friends, that is commitment! These men had such a desire to get to Jesus that they embarked on a journey that could’ve taken “at least four or five months using ancient roads and mountain passes” says Mr. Abbott on ebible.com. We don’t know exactly how long it took these wise men to travel such a distance, but friends, 800 to 900 miles is no effortless task. These men were so devoted to finding the King of the Jews for the purpose of worshipping Him that they abandoned whatever tasks they had back at home for such a considerable length of time to do so.
Friends, how about you? Are you desperate to get to the Savior? Do you have this overwhelming desire in you to get to the King of Kings to worship Him? The wise men may have taken four or five months to get to Jesus. Do you make the short drive to get to church for two hours on a Sunday morning to worship Jesus with other followers and hear His word preached?
Do you make the tiny trip to wherever you play music from on your phone or stereo to sing a song of worship to the God of your salvation? Amazingly, we can encounter Jesus when we take 10 minutes to eagerly sit down and read the Bible in our own home, or on a lunch break, or in our car somewhere. Do we make this incredibly worthwhile sacrifice?
Do we set aside time to pray and talk to the Lover of our souls? Friends, I have good news for you! You don’t have to travel 800 or 900 miles to get to Jesus. Instead, He is knocking on the door of your heart, right here and right now. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Maybe Jesus isn’t asking you to make the trip to Him today. Maybe all He’s asking you to do is open the door of your heart and let Him in.