The Wisdom of Seeking Jesus

I am so blessed to have some wonderful Christian sisters who mean the world to me. A couple, in particular, are close both in distance and in heart. We often celebrate holidays, birthdays, and other occasions together, which is a tremendous blessing when most of our family live so far away. One of my dear sisters, Cindy, has a birthday in mid-November. Over the years we have observed her special day in different ways – sometimes I’ve traveled to her house; this year she came to mine. Last year we decided to spend the day together at Colorado’s largest mall. As is typical during the holiday season, among the over 180 shops was one dedicated to all things Christmas. Interestingly, so much of what this place featured was white décor. I’m rather partial to the old red and green traditional colors myself, but there were many decorative and pretty ornaments and other adornments filling the shelves and spaces. One item in particular caught Cindy’s eye. It was a very simple ceramic nativity that featured Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the stable. It was all white, all one piece, and was about eight inches tall and maybe ten inches wide – perfect as a table top creche. Cindy said she had been looking for a manger scene, and though she was quite taken with it and it was on sale, she just couldn’t purchase it at that time. For the rest of our mall visit, I tried to think of a way I could sneak back to the store and pick it up as her Christmas gift, but I never found the opportunity to do so. Since my husband and I would be traveling past this mall again in just a few days, I decided to stop back by then to make the purchase.

Though there were several on display for that first visit, by the time I returned, there were no white manger scenes to be found. Highly disappointed, I made it my mission to find this nativity somewhere. I tried home stores and big-box stores, department stores and boutiques. I even looked in larger grocery stores that had a dedicated holiday section, all to no avail. Then I hit the Internet. Nothing resembled that precious Holy Family display! Being that Christmas and our gift exchange were fast approaching, I decided to put aside the nativity gift thought until this year and get something else instead. I resumed my search this November. This is the stable design that is often seen on cards, ornaments, and wall hangings, but this particular piece was nowhere to be found! I decided it was either a specially-created limited edition sculpture, or it was selling at that Christmas store at the end of its run. I began to think how nice it would be if a great big star would either appear over a particular merchandise establishment or pop up on my computer so I could find this special little manger. Realizing that the décor that Cindy admired was not available, I found another creche that I believed she would like just as well and gave it to her for her birthday a few weeks ago.

Within the last few weeks, I have read through the passage found in Matthew chapter two regarding the visit of the Magi, or wise men, that occurred as much as two years after Jesus was born. These men were from the east, and so they were pagans, which makes it truly interesting that they were looking for the “King of the Jews” so they could worship him. They saw the star that God set in the sky, and on the way, they came to Jerusalem where they inquired as to where they could find the child. They had a meeting with King Herod who, along with all of Jerusalem including the religious leaders, was troubled by the news. Herod did send them on to Bethlehem, as he had been advised by those leaders where the Christ would be born according to the Scriptures. He told them to bring back word regarding the place where they found Jesus under the pretense that he too wanted to worship him but with the intent to get rid of this threat to his rule. Something grabbed my attention in the next part of the passage. “After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:9-12, ESV). We see that the Magi did listen to King Herod, but when there was a conflict between Herod’s directives and God’s instruction, these men truly displayed wisdom by following the command of God over the dictates of man.

And that is wisdom that we too can display in our lives. As we go through the holiday season, we can bring the treasure of our own appreciation, obedience, and love of God to our precious Lord and Savior. No matter what might be attempting to dictate the use of our time, our talents, and our devotion, we can follow God’s word that reminds us to “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8, ESV). And, along with the psalmist, David, we can “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness” (Psalm 29:2, ESV). It is only in so doing that we can find ourselves in the company of the Magi who came from afar to pay homage to the One and Only King who reigns forever and ever. Though I had a hard time finding a specific simple representation of the Christ child, you will never have trouble finding Jesus when you truly seek him. Make the time, take the time to come to Jesus!

Subscribe to our free bi-monthly eNewsletter