Praise the Lord, for He is the King of all
nations and the Lord of all. I was in a local store yesterday. There two sales
associates were in a deep religious and theological discourse. One guy was
telling the other guy that they had a great Sunday. They celebrated the feast of
the Three Kings. His wife is from Mexico and she goes out of her way to
celebrate all religious holidays, he said. He likes the celebration and the
feasting part of it. He was saying that he did not really fully understand about
the Magi and the gifts they brought to Jesus. I just joined the conversation and
said that the wise men, called the Magi traveled a long way to come to Jesus and
worship Him. Their lives were changed.
We don not need to travel a long way to worship
Jesus. We can give our lives to Him. We can put our faith in Him and worship Him
even now. It is written that the wise men found Mary and the baby in a house,
and it was there that they knelt before him and offered their gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh. (2:11) It is written further, "Being warned in a dream that
they shouldn't return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way."
(Matthew 2:12)
To our
modern ears, that sounds pretty lame: If I-81 closed, take Highway 11. No big
deal. Remember, however, that travel wasn't that easy back
then. There were trade routes to follow, and to venture off the beaten path was
to do so at great peril. For the magi to take a different trade route might well
mean that they had to go hundreds of miles out of their way to get back home.
The Good News
is that God is faithful through the changing circumstances of our lives. The bad
news is that we experience God's faithfulness only as we let go of our
rebellious spirit and conform to His will. As the magi were led home in a new
direction, the Lord will lead us home, but it's apt to be a different journey
than we had expected, with lots of twists, turns, and detours along the
way.
After the magi left, Joseph had another dream. This time the angel warned him to get out of Bethlehem because his son's life was in danger. Like the Pharaoh who vowed to kill the baby Moses, Herod was going to kill all the Hebrew boys two years old and younger. So, "He (Joseph) arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod." (Matthew 2:14-15)
Joseph kept his family in Egypt for some time, until Herod the Great died. Then he brought them back to Bethlehem, only to find out that things were worse under Herod's son, Archelaus. So he took them on to Nazareth. It is probably safe to say that none of this fits into Joseph and Mary's plans of getting married and living happily ever after. From the moment of the angel's first annunciation, their life would turn out far different from anything they could have expected.
We stand at the threshold of a new calendar year. None of us knows what twists, turns and detours lie ahead and what effect they're going to have on our lives. Life is full of changes. Some we choose, such as moving to a different location or starting a new job. Some we do not, such as experiencing the death of a loved one, the failure of a marriage, or the devastation of a storm. Just when we think things are going our way, the rug may be pulled out from under us and everything gets topsy-turvy. We certainly are not the first to face the uncertainty of the future. Like those who've gone before us, scripture beckons us to look to God to order and provide. The Psalmist writes, "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalms 27:1)
Our Lord Jesus declared: "Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?' 'What will we drink?' or 'With what will we be clothed?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient." (Matthew 6:31-34)
It is also written: "In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
In Christ,
Brown
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