We say, “If I could just figure this thing out.”
The Christmas story says, “Maybe you’re looking in the wrong direction”...
...The Mary and Joseph in our nativity may look older and wiser but they were just teens.
And nothing made sense about the birth of their son. If anyone deserved to say “If I could just figure this thing out,” it was these two. And yet Mary said: “Be it unto me according to Your Word,” and after some wild and crazy dreams about it all, young Joe “did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him.”
Those shepherds may be known for watching their flocks “on a cold winter’s night that was so deep,” except the actual time of Jesus’ birth was closer to September than December, when it is hot by day and in the 60s at night. Even so, here were the low end of society’s totem pole being visited by and shouted to by angels of God. And perhaps like us wondering...
“Wait. You? You speaking to me?”
The shouting, the singing, the blinding light of Glory, the mysterious declaration of some child born in Bethlehem.... “If we could just figure this thing out.” But instead of just shaking their head and carrying on with their sheep watching, they said: “Let’s see for ourselves what the Lord has told us about.”
The “we three kings of orient are” wise men from Persia may have been three…or not. They may have been kings…or not. No one knows for sure. They were sure about a lot of things when it came to figuring out astrology and what the alignment of stars might mean, but when they looked up at this star, even they wondered, “If we could just figure this thing out.” Wise as they were, they didn’t have all the answers to life, but they set a simple tone for all who would follow Jesus ever since: “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2, NLT)
Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise Persians, all had the same response to the age-old question of wanting to figure things out when life doesn’t make sense — the same response the grown up baby in the manger would urge His first followers and those of us following 2,000 years later:
“But first and most importantly seek, aim at, strive after His kingdom and His righteousness, His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God—and all these things will be given to you also.”
—Matthew 6:33, Amplified
Seek first the Kingdom of God and not human logic or expert advice…and worship.
Seek first and keep on seeking Him at the start of each day, one step in front of the other, even if you aren’t sure where it all leads…and worship.
“Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength His power, His might; seek…and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.” (Psalm 105:4. Amplified)
Keep looking Up…and come, let us adore Him.
Wisdom doesn’t have to be deep, or old, or well-educated or complex to be powerful for living well.
It doesn’t have to have all the answers.
It just knows that all that God has ever said has been true.
We just need to remember that, and the response of the Nativity characters,
And go, and seek Him first, and rest...
Especially in days like these.
“The supreme need in every hour of difficulty and distress is for a fresh vision of God. Seeing Him, all else takes on proper perspective and proportion.”—G. Campbell Morgan
No comments:
Post a Comment