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And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [the wise men] departed to their own country by another way.
--Matthew 2:12
We don’t know what happened to these wise men. They leave the biblical story as quickly as they enter it. We can suppose they came to saving faith and lived out the rest of their days as followers of Jesus. That’s my belief, but the story just doesn’t tell us.
But here’s the truth: What the wise men saw in the stars prompted them to make an extremely difficult journey to seek out the Lord Jesus. I believe that’s where their truth journey led them and their lives were never the same again. I think the light was turned on in their lives and they became new creations.
We don’t need to cross deserts or mountains to find Jesus. But we have to open our hearts and minds to Him. And when you encounter the truth of Christ, you will be transformed. Your life will take on a new direction. These magi went home another way – I think that means both geographically and spiritually. New life in Christ takes on a whole new direction, a way of spiritual transformation.
It wasn’t an accident these men came to meet young Jesus and it’s not an accident you’re reading these words today. I want to tell you that wherever you are, you can become a different person right now. The truth of Christ is a truth that sets you free. And if you’ll trust in Him today, your life will take a brand new path!
Away in a Manger
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
John 1:26–29
One of the first Christmas songs most of us learned was “Away in a Manger.” It is routinely cited as one of the most popular carols. The origins of the song are unclear. In its earliest published versions from the 1880s it is attributed to Martin Luther, but it does not appear that he actually wrote the words so many of us love to sing. Wherever they came from, they are a reminder of the humility of Jesus Christ.
He is the Lord of glory, and the only one worthy of all praise and worship. Yet He took on a human body, and was placed into a feeding trough for animals. Paul wrote that Jesus refused to cling to His rights and privileges: “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7–8).
A manger is a fitting place for the Lamb of God, no matter how out of place it seems to be for the King of Kings. Jesus is both, and to provide a way of salvation for us, He chose the manger over a throne. There is no more touching symbol of the love of God for us than Jesus lying in a rough feeding trough meant for animals because there was no room in the inn.
Today's Growth Principle:
We must never lose sight of the amazing humility Jesus displayed by coming to be our Saviour.
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