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What Joy Was Theirs - Preparing for Christmas
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What Joy Was Theirs
READ: Matthew 2:1-12 Visitors from the East 1Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem2and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.” 3When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.4He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?” 5“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they answered. “For this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will guide my people Israel.’” 7So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.8Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9-10And so they left, and on their way, they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.11They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him. 12Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
WHAT JOY WAS THEIRS Merry Christmas! Thank you for going through this Advent Journey as we celebrate Jesus’ arrival. Yesterday, we focused on Jesus’ birth and Mary’s response. Today, we celebrate with the men from the East. They studied the stars and realized that one specific star indicated that the King of the Jews was born. They came to worship him. Some scholars believe it’s three men from the East because there were three types of gifts, but there may have been more men. God used the same star to lead them from Jerusalem to Jesus’ exact location in Bethlehem. It was the exact town about which God had told the prophet Micah hundreds of years earlier, and Matthew quotes the passage to prove it. Their reaction to Jesus is extraordinary. “What joy was theirs.” They treat him like a King. They kneel and worship him. They present him with expensive gifts. May we treat Jesus like our King always and especially in the coming days. There is so much to celebrate: his birth, life, death, and resurrection. May we kneel before him as we surrender our dreams and plans for the New Year to him. May we give our lives to him as a gift, considering all he’s done for us.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank you for the example of the men from the East. Thank you for leading them to Jesus. Thank you for the ways they treated Jesus like the King that he is. Help me to live like Jesus is my King, now and always. I want his plans to be my plans. I pray that I will live my life as a gift to you for all that you’ve done in Jesus. Thank you for his birth, life, death, and resurrection. Amen.
DIG DEEPER: How could you continue to celebrate Jesus and live like he is your King? What are a few things you want to remember from this Advent journey? What’s the next devotional you plan to read?
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This was the best Advent journey I have ever read. It's funny, I read a lot of devotionals and am not sure when I added this one to my list.
I thought I would read one once a day, but things came up. One week ago I realized that if I read one every day, my last one would be today on Christmas Day!! Not a coincidence!! I love you Jesus!!! Thank you for coming to earth in human firm to save us from sin, and to teach us to live wonderful, spiritual lives! Amen!
I thought I would read one once a day, but things came up. One week ago I realized that if I read one every day, my last one would be today on Christmas Day!! Not a coincidence!! I love you Jesus!!! Thank you for coming to earth in human firm to save us from sin, and to teach us to live wonderful, spiritual lives! Amen!