THINK TOGETHER.
What was your favorite present from this past Christmas?
READ TOGETHER.
Matthew 2:1-12. 10When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Do you remember the story of the Wise Men? Did you have a nativity set with wise men in it? Tradition says that there were three wise men, sometimes called kings, who came to baby Jesus in the manger.
The truth is we have no idea how many Wise Men came to see Jesus. It’s also wrong to think that the Wise Men were kings. Maybe they worked for a king like Daniel or Joseph did in the Old Testament, but they were actually super smart and super mysterious astrologers who studied the stars in the sky in order to predict what would happen in the future. That’s why God gave them a star to look at – When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. That star let them know that someone special had been born, and that they should go and find this new king.
And they did.
What really made the wise men wise is not that they looked at stars all day and tried to predict the future with them. What really made them wise was how thy responded to Jesus. They fell down and worshiped him. This is what wise people do, they worship Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is God. He is our creator. He is our king. He is our wise man who will do all that God the Father will ask of him, even dying on a cross for our sins.
The Bible says that because Jesus died for our sins on the cross, one day everyone will bow down and worship him.
Philippians 2:8-11. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Be like the wise men and rejoice with great joy that Jesus has travelled far from Heaven to Earth to find us. He has come to us with the gift of his life and his love. But he didn’t come to worship us, he came so that we might worship him, bowing on our knees and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord.
Don’t wait until the end of days to worship Jesus. Start today!
Because of Jesus God has come to find us.
With Jesus we can be wise and worship God.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
As you pray together go down on your knees. It’s a good idea to pray this way every once in a while to show Jesus the respect he deserves.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you are our wise man who came from far away to find us. We don’t give you gifts; you gave us the gift of your love in our hearts. Let me never forget to worship you. Amen.
TLICfamily 