Week 49 - Journeying into God’s Presence
S: Matt 2:11 (NLT)
“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
O: When reading the story of the birth of Jesus there are so many stories and interesting perspectives we can look from. One of the interesting ones is the viewpoint of the wise men and what happened when they eventually found Jesus. The three men had come a long way following a star that guided them to where Jesus was. What is striking is that they came saddled with no doubt heavy gifts they had carried with them to present to the Messiah. However, the first thing the wise men did was worship Jesus before giving Him the gifts they brought. If nothing else, this is indicative of what it must have been like to truly be in Jesus’ presence. Worship is the first response. The story is also instructive about the posture we are to have whilst laying down all we hold valuable and important as well.
A few takeaways and lessons from the wisemen are:
They sacrificed their time journeying to find where Jesus was
They took of their valuable substance to give to Him as gifts
In true humility, they laid down their treasures, bowed down and worshipped Him first!
A: Remember that the cost of worship is sacrifice. Let us make a conscious effort to set aside time, lay down our crowns and worship Him!
P: Lord, thank you for the gift of your presence. Teach me how to lay down my crowns and treasures withholding nothing.
