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"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)
Merry Christmas! What a wonderful day for us as followers of Jesus to celebrate the Messiah's birth. I hope this Christmas Season finds you and your loved ones blessed and joyful. Ashley and I are looking forward to spending time with our children and grandchildren later this week. Yeah, we are excited!
I know there are many, however, that are struggling this time of year. While many are celebrating and enjoying joyous times with family and friends, there are others who are suffering, and their pain is especially acute this time of year. I know some who are struggling because a spouse has left them. Another would be celebrating her first Christmas with her husband, but he tragically died this year before they were able to get married. You may be reading this and that person who is having a really hard time is you. The Lord loves you. He sees you. He is for you. I am praying for you even as I write today's Christmas devotion for God to comfort you with His supernatural love and care.
At our church, I have been teaching on being intentional this Christmas Season. It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Holidays and lose sight of the Person who makes this all possible, the very reason for the joyous season, Jesus Christ! A couple of weeks ago I wrote about keeping our focus on Jesus during the Holidays. This week, I will share some thoughts with you about how we can draw closer to God's people, His Church, as we celebrate Christmas. (On Sunday, December 31, at Great Hills Baptist Church, I will share a message on how we can be intentional this Christmas Season with those who do not know the Lord.)
This week I will write about a group of men in the Bible who stayed together and accomplished great things on the first Christmas. The three wise men, or Magi, in Matthew's Gospel provide a great example for us today on how we can stay close to each other and passionately focus on pursuing Jesus. As I reflected on these three kings of orient, I thought about how unified they were in their mission. Their focus on getting to Jesus together is what I want to explore with you this week.
Ashley and I saw the movie, Journey to Bethlehem, starring Antonio Bandaris, who plays Herod the Great, and Joel Smallbone of the band for King and Country, who plays the part of Herod's son, Antipas. The musical movie takes many creative licenses with the biblical narrative, but overall, I thought it was well done. The three wise men play a significant role in the movie as they do in the biblical narrative. The writers interject comedy with these three men, how very different each one was from the other, how they got on each other's nerves, and how nonetheless, they came together to accomplish their mission of following the star to Bethlehem. A friend of mine texted me and said the movie made the wise men look like "wise guys"!
I hope you enjoy these Christmas devotions this week. May the Lord richly bless you and your loved ones on this special day.
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