5 Lessons From the Wise Men
There are several lessons we can learn from the story of the Wise Men in Matthew 2 as they sought Jesus Christ.
Take the journey and make the sacrifice to seek for Jesus Christ in your life.
Invite and involve others in your journey to find Christ—especially pointing others to the scriptures.
Rejoice, because heaven will guide you.
Ask ourselves, “What gifts will I offer Jesus Christ?”
Make quiet time in our lives and follow impressions we have.
Transcript
Tamara Anderson 0:00
One of the cutest Christmas sayings I saw once was on a little wooden plaque. And it said, "Wise men still seek Him." And I loved that. And so today I'm going to talk about five lessons we can learn from the wise man in their search for Jesus Christ.
Tamara Anderson 0:18
This can be found in Matthew Chapter Two for anyone who wants to follow along. And we will start with verses one and two. It says, "Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born king of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him."
Tamara Anderson 0:43
And so this begins, the first lesson that we can learn from the wise man is that they were willing to take the journey to seek and find Jesus Christ. And this could have taken months and perhaps even years out of their lives to do that. We don't know where they came from, in the east, and we don't know how long they traveled, but they were willing to make the journey. And I think that makes the difference. They were willing to travel, they were willing to sacrifice time. They were willing to sacrifice resources, and they had an inner burning faith that propelled them forward. Right?
Tamara Anderson 1:21
And I think those are the same traits that we need as we seek Jesus Christ in our journeys. Are we willing to travel perhaps, to church on Sunday? Are we willing to take time out of our busy lives to journey towards Christ? And do we have the faith necessary to propel us forward and our journey? It Doesn't matter whatever hardship comes in our way. Do we have that faith? And so that is the first lesson we learned from the Wiseman.
Tamara Anderson 1:54
The second is found in verses three through six. And those say, "when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he gathered all the chief priests and scribes, that the people together he demanded of them, where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for this, it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of the shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people, Israel."
Tamara Anderson 2:26
And so when they got to Jerusalem, they went to the palace, they thought, this is surely where it King will be born. But that is not where Jesus Christ was born. And the second thing we learned here is that they involved others in their search for Jesus Christ. And these others, ended up turning to the Scriptures, and finding that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem. And so as we seek for Jesus Christ in our journeys, it's important to involve others in our search and say, Hey, I just did this. And I feel closer to Jesus Christ. Have you ever read the scriptures? And what have you found there? And, and invite people to join you in that journey In seeking Jesus Christ.
Tamara Anderson 3:17
The next lesson can be found in verses nine and 10. And it says, "And when they had heard the king, they departed. And lo, the star which they saw in the east, went before them till it came, and stood over where the young child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy." So the initial star that started this whole journey guided them, and I think that is, the third lesson that we can learn is that Heaven will guide us in life. And as we seek Christ, as we turn to heaven, perhaps we're not going to see a star, but it will, God will send us guidance from heaven, as we seek for it. And as we pray for it.
Tamara Anderson 4:08
And I know I found that in my life when I am struggling with this situation. And I have turned to God and prayer. He has answered me with maybe thoughts or impressions, and maybe not right when I'm praying, but maybe as I go throughout the week, or as I search for something, all sudden, an idea will pop into my mind, or maybe as I'm talking to a friend, they'll say something which will trigger an answer in my mind. So sometimes God answers us in different ways, but it's good to know that Heaven will guide us and that is the third thing we learn from the wise men. So rejoice in that because they said that they rejoice with exceeding great joy. Isn't it great to know that God cares enough about us? That He will answer us and guide us in our journey? So rejoice in knowing that.
Tamara Anderson 4:56
The fourth lesson can be found in verse 11. And it says "and when They were coming into the house they saw the young child with marry his mother and fell down and worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures they presented unto Him gifts, gold, and frankincense and myrrh." And so the fourth lesson is a question: What gifts do we offer Jesus Christ? And often they're not the physical kind that you can hold, and perhaps give him like gold or frankincense or myrrh, like the wise men did.
Tamara Anderson 5:32
They are more in gifts we can give in a spiritual sense, and they may require time. So maybe it's making time to give God a place in our lives. Or perhaps it is the gift of love. God invites us over and over in the scriptures to love him. And and then the second commandment is to love our neighbor. And so one of the gifts we can give to God is to love Him and love our neighbor. And that can be through gifts of love and service, and being kind and giving. And I am thankful to know that I can do little things that show God that I love him, and that I love my neighbor. The third thing under gifts that I think we could give is the gift of obedience. And that's not one we often think about. But Jesus Christ taught us if he loved me, keep my commandments. And, and so that is a gift we can give, study His commandments, and give him the gift of obedience. And none of us are perfectly obedient, the another gift, we can give us the gift of repentance, and applying the Atoning Blood of Jesus Christ in our lives so that we can be clean when we repent. And I'm thankful for that gift in my life, because I sure need it, I'm not perfect.
Tamara Anderson 7:00
The last lesson that we can learn from the wise man is in verse 12, than it says, and being warned of God and a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And so the fifth lesson that we can learn is to follow impressions that we get from God. And sometimes those are impressions to do something. And sometimes those are impressions not to do something in the case of the Wiseman it was not to go and tell her where they found Jesus Christ.
Tamara Anderson 7:30
And I think the key here is quieting our lives enough to listen, because these impressions aren't loud and screaming, they're often very, very quiet. And they come as thoughts. And if their thoughts do good things, I think we should follow them. One of the tricks to listening is to not have a constant barrage of social media going all the time in our lives, too, take time, maybe in your car, to turn off the radio, or turn off a podcast or whatever you listen to, and spend some time just thinking and meditating and pondering, and letting God give you these impressions in quiet moments.
Tamara Anderson 8:17
Another time that I have found that I receive impressions is when I wake up early, before everybody else in my house and my house is quiet, I find that's like one of the few times I get quiet in my life. And so maybe making that sacrifice of time to to have some quiet time and to put God first. And that was one of the impressions I had and I followed it and it's been a blessing in my life because it's it's enabled me to get more impressions because I've I've found more quiet time in my life, or I've made more quiet time in my life is probably a better way of saying that.
Tamara Anderson 8:56
And so those are the five lessons. First, take the journey and make the sacrifice to seek for Jesus Christ. The second lesson is to involve others in your seeking Christ, especially leading them to look in the scriptures. The third lesson is to remember to rejoice because Heaven will guide us. The fourth is to ask ourselves the question what gifts do we want to offer Jesus Christ, from ourselves from our inner selves. And the fifth one is to follow our impressions and to carve out quiet time so that we have the opportunity to receive these impressions that God gives us.
Tamara Anderson 9:40
This is Bible stories today episode six the five lessons we learn from the Wiseman, enjoy it and share it with those who could use some inspiration in their lives today. Hope on!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai