Many people start out seeking, but deep down they aren’t willing to bow to anyone. So even if they find Christ, their search will hold little satisfaction for them. Not so with the magi. They took their search to its logical conclusion. With wisdom and passion, they followed their clues and found the truth—the Christ child. When they found Jesus, they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. Their search may have begun out of sheer intellectual curiosity, but it ended in worship.
The star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:9-11)
As part of their worship, the magi brought very valuable gifts to Jesus. Gold was a gift worthy of Christ’s royalty. Frankincense was a gift to honor His deity. The bitter myrrh marked His humanity. Once they found who they were looking for, they didn’t hold back.
Sometimes we search, but we’re unwilling to open our lives to God once we find Him. We withhold our love, our honesty, our past, our pride, our future. What was at stake for these wise men? Do you really think they expected to find the infant son of a peasant couple to be the King of the Jews? What might it mean to them politically to worship another human being in such unimpressive circumstances? What were they opening themselves up for, having acknowledged that this child held a position superior to them? Yet they set aside all these possibilities and gave their gifts.
Each of us in one way or another is searching and seeking. We must be wise in our seeking, seek wholeheartedly, and respond willingly and honestly to the truth we find.
I pray that this Christmas season you will make room in your heart for seeking and worshipping the King.
Divinity wrapped in a blanket,
Laid in the arms of the race,
Slept while His Father kept silent,
Watching with tears on His face.
The godhead resides in a body,
So weak and incredibly small,
While angels bereft of their treasure,
Try to make sense of it all.
Divinity wrapped in a baby.
How simple, yet simply profound,
Like the kings and the shepherds I worship,
And bow myself down to the ground.
Infinity chose to be finite,
Omniscience made Himself known,
Omnipotence laid down His power,
Emmanuel made my heart home,
Unspeakable gift, softly spoken,
Unimaginable love made so clear,
Immeasurable grace of the Father,
Bringing all nations so near.
Divinity wrapped in a blanket,
Eternity visiting time,
Stopped all the clocks in the heavens,
As God chose to make Himself mine.
Divinity Wrapped in a Blanket, Jill Briscoe © 2000