“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.” Matthew 2:1-2

For our final Christmas (December) post, I want us to look at the wise men. Even though they did not arrive for the birth of Jesus Christ, but actually about 2 years later, they are an important part of the Christmas story. These educated men (perhaps leaders and astrologers) saw the “new” star in the sky, which to them heralded the birth of the Messiah, the King of the Jews. But the amazing part of their story is that they didn’t just observe the star, but they set off on a long (and probably difficult) journey to seek God’s Messiah, Jesus.

The Bible doesn’t give a lot of information about the wise men. Over time, and with speculation and assumption, it has been decided there were three, because of the number of gifts given to Jesus. They have even been given names and assigned specific clothing and attributes. It is also assumed that the wise men probably traveled with a large group of servants and supplies. But what really captures our attention and inspires us is that they started their journey and did not stop seeking until they found the child born as God’s Messiah.

Each year, we try to give our children gifts that symbolize the real reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus birth. Sometimes it’s a new Bible or devotional or another Christian gift. This year we decided to give our children (Ok, our young adults!) the gifts of the wise men. They received a gold piece, and oils of frankincense and myrrh. The gold is believed to represent the kingship of Jesus. The frankincense was used by priests in the temple and represents that Jesus is the “high priest” and would be worshiped. The myrrh was used in burial preparations, representing that Jesus would die for our sins.

This new year, I challenge each of us to “journey” toward Jesus, just as the wise men did over two thousand years ago. A journey of seeking, searching, pursuing and ultimately finding our closest relationship with Jesus. A journey implies a long and at times, arduous trip, as we travel towards our final goal, our ultimate destination. But let us persevere in our journey for the reward will be great. “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:5-8

I thank God for each of you! And I thank you for joining me this week as we look at the journey of the wise men and emulate them in our own search for our King and Savior, Jesus.

A special note of thanks to all who have read, shared, followed, liked, and commented on this blog. I have completed one full year, 52 weeks, 104 blog posts. Thank you!! If you read the adult post, under the “Blog” heading, don’t forget to check out the additional post under the “For the Kids” heading written just for those special children in your life.