I have just recently lost my watch. It is one of those watches that you can trace as long as the battery on the watch is charged. I know it is in the house. That is what my app says but I just can’t find it. I have tried for days but to no avail.
Yesterday we saw men starting out on a journey searching, not for a watch but a baby. They, like me, did not pack up after one search or one day.No they kept looking. I don’t know how long their journey took. I do know the Bible says “For when they arrived Jesus was a child living in Nazareth”.
It tells me of the verse I left with you yesterday if you seek me you shall find me. If only that was true with my watch. What I do learn from those men. It is that our lives and our journey, in particular, are not a sprint but a marathon. I hope you will keep searching for the true meaning of Christmas. It is nearer to you than you think.
So these wise men used every means in their search. For the wise men, the entire journey began with a star. As they look up they see a tiny little point of light in the sky. We think of stars as tiny little things. But they are not for each one of those “little stars” is a sun.
Among the ancients, the appearance of a star or comet was regarded as an omen of some remarkable event. Many such appearances are recorded by the Roman historians at the birth or death of distinguished men.
It is said that at the death of Julius Caesar a comet appeared in the heavens, and shone seven days. These wise men also considered this as evidence that the long-expected Prince was born.
None of the priests and teachers of the law in Jerusalem saw the star. Their eyes were too focused on their books and their laws and their church politics to even notice the sign of the new King’s birth.
I wonder if you are like the wise men on a journey not knowing where it is going to end. For life can be like that not knowing what is around the corner. Jethro Tull, a rock band, wrote these words “Life is a long song, but the tune ends too soon for us all”. How true.
We must be willing to look beyond our jobs and our books and our families, and all the pressing cares of shopping and internet searching for presents. We must be willing to clear our minds from time to time of all those cares and lift our eyes beyond the things of this world to the deeper matters of spiritual life. The wise men did and found their answer.
Coming to Jerusalem, they made an inquiry of Christ in the records. In Matthew 2:9 after this interview, the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
There are many ways to find out more about this baby. One great way is to join an Alpha course and we here at Erdington run one regularly so why not drop an email and we would be glad to help out. Attending a Christmas carol service is another way of finding more about this special baby.
Keep looking, Keep safe Keep Blessed