January 22
"When they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshiped Him." Beneath the lowly guise of Jesus, they recognized the presence of Divinity. They gave their hearts to Him as their Saviour, and then poured out their gifts,--"gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." What a faith was theirs! It might have been said of the wise men from the East, as afterward of the Roman centurion, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matt. 8:10.
They had travelled from the north and east. It might have been that their scientific community chided them for their religious explorations. Following a star is not an easy thing to do. They, like planets, move through the skies traversing from east to west. Even in the skies above Iraq, down through modern Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, and of course in Israel, there are clouds. Following a star can be a frustrating business. Some might think of giving up. The lack of interest in Jerusalem, along with the less than warm welcome, has to have been a subject of warm discussion. The directions to little, poor, crowded Bethlehem can’t have been the most expected destination – and by now they are saddle sore and shorter on money with no sign of a cash machine for miles. They have persevered.
They have enough about them to realise as they step into the palace of the prince that this child is special. Don’t ask me how, but the Messiah is easily recognised.
Ellen White tells us that, “They gave their hearts to Him as their Saviour, and then poured out their gifts,--"gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." What a faith was theirs!”
Goodness knows what happened to those gifts. The focus in the reading is on the faith of the Magi. True, they were supremely faithful. They might put us to shame. But consider now the proud Mother and Father. How do they react to these northern foreigners with fine clothes and strange accents?
Joseph is a carpenter. He has dealings with farmers. He knows how to speak to his customers. These men are something else. At the time young Mary might be over-awed, probably hardly ever seeing foreigners apart from the detestable Romans. With Mary it is the long term reaction that counts. She would never forget this great event.
When something good happens to you, when something happens that is obviously of spiritual importance, remember it. Better still, take the time to seek out the occasions when spiritual events may happen. Remember them! Mary and Joseph would have done. They help you hang on. They help you persevere.
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Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
You are going to wonder where I am going with this blog, blame the dog, it was his idea. While Ludy is at a big family reunion in the Philippines I am dog sitter number 1.
I had my orders, “Don’t overfeed Milo, the dog.” Milo has his own take on that. His whole life is built around food. He stands by his bowl when I am in the kitchen. He has these eyes that simply say, “You really need to feed me because I love you very much.” Food is the greatest experience of his life.
When your life is built around one major thing that is all that you think about.
Herod’s life was built around conspiracy and defending himself against conspiracy. That was what he lived with and that is what his life was built around. When he heard of a new baby he didn’t think about presents and a visit with the wife. His thought was, “Get rid of the rival to the throne.”
What is the centre of your life? Work? Then that is what you will think about. How about a different centre to your life? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and ….” Well, I’ll leave you to fill in the rest. However you might recognise that if you centre your life on God you get a manufacturers guarantee, and so many side-benefits.
