It seems that every Thanksgiving and Christmas season, the local news stations broadcast a report from the airport showing the long lines and dense crowds trying to get to and from their holiday destinations. I am always glad that I am not one of them! Travel can be wonderful, but also very stressful and disruptive. Combining travel with all the other holiday activities is not for the faint of heart! But for all the hassles, we usually reach our destination within one day.
Now consider the wise men who traveled to worship the infant Jesus:
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, [a]wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 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; NKJ)
Generations of the wise men (or Magi) studied the heavens watching for the sign of the Jewish Messiah. There was probably a theoretical feel to their patient observation of the heavens, not unlike our own search for extraterrestrial signals from the sky. But then one day, theory became reality. The star sign appeared! And these men packed their bags and beasts and said goodbye to family and friends. It is likely that the journey the wise men undertook was one of months upon months. They left behind their orderly lives, their families, and their academic and financial pursuits to pay homage to the newborn King of Israel. They counted the sacrifice of their time and their wealth to be completely worth it.
Some of the interruptions in our own well-planned lives are not momentary, short-lived events. Some are long-term detours and deviations. We receive a medical diagnosis that will require surgery and months of recovery. We accept a job offer, but it requires a significant re-location. Or a pandemic disrupts our lives for several years! Yet in all these things our Sovereign God is at work leading us to pursue Christ. The goal of our lives is not our well-ordered plans, it is the pursuit of the Lord Jesus! Let us join with the wise men, counting the cost of long-term obedience and agreeing that the pursuit of Christ is worth everything.
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