THE WISE MEN

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:1-2). These men may have been called wise men because they studied the stars. But the story of their following the star to Bethlehem suggests another kind of wisdom; one that is so often forgotten by multitudes of people.

These men showed wisdom by their willingness to be led by something above, the star. Paul wrote, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Many today do consider this wise, but completely foolish. Rather than having our eyes glued to earthly things, let us focus our lives on spiritual things, things above.

These men realized there were longings within them that could be satisfied only by finding Christ and worshipping Him. It has been said that every human heart has a hole in it that can only be filled by Christ. There are cravings that can be satisfied only by spiritual things. One can fill his life with all the pleasures of this world and still hunger for more. Think of Solomon. What would we thing of someone who tried to satisfy the physical needs, hunger for example, by reading a book or singing a song? While those things man be useful activities, they will do nothing to satisfy the physical needs. The same is true of trying to satisfy our spiritual appetites with physical things. It will not work.

These men saw the star God gave them to show the way. However, He left them free to choose whether they would follow it or not. They showed their wisdom by choosing to follow the way and find Christ. It is the same with us. We are free to choose to stay or go, but is it wise to refuse to go in search of that which all of us need most? Our greatest need is not for groceries, nor a doctor, but a Savior. Is one wise that uses his freedom to ignore his need of a Savior, or refuse to go in search of a Savior?

These men were wise in that they did not let anything block their path that led to Bethlehem. It was likely a long, difficult journey for them to reach Bethlehem. There were difficult roads, hills to climb, and valleys to cross to reach their destination. There were determined to reach their destination no matter what. What do we let get in our way of reaching Christ? There are always hills to climb and valleys to cross and there are too many that are ready to let these block their path. The world with its barriers will stand between us and Christ. We must be willing to walk over or around these to find Him.

The goal of the wise men was to reach Jesus and they would not allow anything to sidetrack them. They stopped at Jerusalem, but not to stay. They continued their journey until they reached the place where He lay. Too many times we start to find Him, but get sidetracked on the way. We read in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” There are many things Satan will use to sidetrack us. We must be wise and not allow ourselves to get sidetracked along the way.

Finally, look at what these men said in verse 2, “we have come to worship Him.” They did not say we have come to see Him, to receive a blessing, to have Him do something for us, but we have come to worship Him. We will be wise to do likewise. Let all that we do be for the purpose of praising and glorifying our Savior.

Are we wise?
--Lamar