“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.'” Matthew 2:1-2
Wise Men Listen
A friend recently posted something I said five years ago. “We don’t get to choose our trials…and we don’t deserve our blessings. God is in control. He chooses what hard times to allow to come our way, and He knows what blessings to release into our lives. Our response is to know that God is good, and we can trust Him with whatever comes our way.”
Besides the shepherds that came to visit Jesus, the other “guests” were the wise men. I’ve been thinking a lot about them. Their situation was quite different to the shepherds. No angels came to announce the birth of Jesus to the wise men—they simply saw a star which they felt heralded His birth. To me, that takes a lot of faith, a lot of believing to just follow a star that they saw. That’s pretty amazing.
We don’t know exactly where they came from. What we do know is that they traveled a long way. It wasn’t a quick weekend trip. It took them a long time. No motels along the way, so it was a hard journey of camping in fields as they traveled. But their belief in the star they had seen was strong. They persevered.
The other thing that impressed me was their sensitivity to the voice of the Lord. They were warned in a dream to return a different way, avoiding seeing King Herod again. God doesn’t speak to me often in dreams—I’ve had a few times when that happened, but it’s not a regular occurrence. But the wise men realized God was speaking to them, they heard the message clearly, and they obeyed. This tells me that their hearts were attuned to the voice of the Lord. They recognized it, and were quick to obey. We don’t know a lot about these wise men, but I think we can see that they were men of God who knew and followed His leadings.
My takeaway from these wise men is that I want to believe what God shows me, and hold fast to it even if it takes a long time or takes me down rough paths. And I want to be sensitive to His voice when He speaks to me—however He chooses to speak to me. I want my spiritual antenna to be tuned into His voice! I don’t want to be distracted by the voice of others or be pressured to do what they think is right. I want to clearly hear God’s voice speak to my heart.
One of my Christmas decorations is a pillow that says “believe.” I see this pillow every time I walk down a small hallway in our home. It has been reminding me of the wise men—how they believed the sign the Lord gave them and set out to obey in finding Jesus. I want to believe in the words and signs that God puts on my heart. This Christmas pillow is reminding me of that this month.
The little white “Dutch” houses by the pillow affirm my ongoing love for the nation of Holland. After our 18 years of living there, the Dutch people and the nation have a very special place in my heart.
Lord, would You speak sweet words and lessons into our hearts, and help us to hear.