This week I am reading the Christmas story to the kids at bedtime. We have a special box to open which holds each one of the characters of the story, and we talk about what part God had them play in that first Christmas; Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Gabriel the angel, and the shepherds.
However there are some characters that are quite different from the rest of the people in the Christmas story. They are the wise men, or Magi. Magi were a combination of philosophers, scientists, and astronomers. They were wealthy, and educated, and obviously seekers of the truth, for they were seeking to know about God, and the future. (Matthew 2:1)
These men weren’t spectators, who made speculative guesses about God. They wanted to know God, and this baby who was born to be king of the Jews. They knew about history, they knew about the salvation story that God had written in the stars, and they wanted to know more.
They didn’t’ take this searching for the truth half heartedly, but were willing to go to great lengths to find the truth. They came from the east, making a four to five-month journey across the desert to find this baby king. They were serious and passionate about their quest, and were willing to do whatever it took. They were what I call “inspiring God seekers”!
I love reading, listening and being around “God seekers”. Those people who seek after God with all they have. They challenge and inspire me, and stir up a hunger for more. They want to understand, and to know and experience God more deeply.
Seekers ask questions, they study, they watch and learn from what is happening around them, and they do whatever it takes to grow and find God and the answers.
The bible says “but from there you will search again for the Lord you God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)
The wise men were willing to give up everything to seek out God; the comforts of their homes, their time, money, safety and possibly even their reputations. They weren’t passive, or merely spectators like many people can be, they engaged in their seeking after God fully.
Today, how serious are you about knowing the truth about Jesus; about the universe, about why and how you are here, and God’s purpose for your life? How engaged are you with wanting to know Him more? And how often do you let other pursuits or distractions get in the way of searching and growing in your relationship with God. Ask yourself, “What would I give up, or invest into, so that this time next year I will know Him more deeply, and be changed because of it?
“For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognising and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10-11)
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a seeker of truth just like the wise men in the Christmas story. If there is anything, or anyone who prevents me from knowing you more please show me, and help me to take the action I need to stop that happening. Please put people in my life that will inspire, challenge and draw me closer to you. In Jesus name Amen.