December 21, 2020

Today’s reading
Matthew 2:11-12 KJV
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

We looked earlier this week at the religious men and how they missed the Savior (Matt 2:4) but today I want to look at how the wise men responded when they found the Savior. They responded in three ways, and I think it can help us as we also seek closeness, and fellowship with the Savior today. First, they responded by bringing gifts. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. These gifts were not given on accident, they were gifts that meant something. Gold was for deity, they recognized Him as God, as verse 2 tells us. Frankincense was an awfully expensive perfume that represented life, in fact it was the purest fragrance you could buy, it was flawless. It not only represented life, but it represented perfect, flawless life. This gift spoke to the perfect nature of the child. The myrrh was a bitter herb that was used in the embalming process, this gift spoke of pain, suffering and death. Second, the wise men brought their worship. Verse 11 tells us that they fell down and worshipped Him. These men were not the kind of men that bowed down to other people, if anything, people would bow to them. They certainly did not make it a habit of bowing down to children. These wise men, however, recognized this baby as God in the flesh. Their bowing is symbolic of them submitting to Him as King. Third, they gave God their obedience in verse 12. God spoke to them and they did not hesitate, they just obeyed, even if it meant defying a king’s decree (verse 8)
Maybe we could respond to the Savior the way the wise men did, this Christmas we should plan on giving Jesus a gift too, not a gift of gold, frankincense, or myrrh. God isn’t interested in anything like that, what God really wants is you, your life, your heart, your will, I can’t think of a better gift to give the Savior this year. We can give Jesus our worship as the wise men did. We worship Him because He is worthy, He has earned that. We can submit to Him as supreme Lord as the wise men did. We can give God our obedience. What I love about this passage is that these wise men recognized the voice of God, which tells me they had a relationship with Him. They had enough discernment and wisdom to recognize and respond to the voice of God. Are you able to discern and recognize the voice of God in your life? Sure, He doesn’t talk to us audibly, but are you aware of when God is trying to speak to you through the person of the Holy Spirit? 2020 has been a difficult year for all of us, for sure, but we can take this Christmas time to seek out a closer relationship with the Savior, and I think these three responses by the wise men are a great place to start.

Frank Newsome