Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s close out our meditation of Worship focusing on wisely worshipping Jesus.

Today’s scripture, Matthew 2:1-2 (NKJV)…
[1] 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.”

Consider…
When the Holy Spirit focused me on worship last Sunday, He pointed out it’s from a wise heart’s posture and devoted mindset we should worship through this season of Advent.

AI Overview says…
In the Bible and Christian tradition, Advent (from Latin adventus, meaning “coming”) is a season of joyful anticipation and preparation for Christ’s arrival, focusing on both his first coming (the Nativity at Christmas) and his promised Second Coming. It’s a time of reflection, prayer, scripture reading (especially Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah), and spiritual readiness, emphasizing themes like hope, peace, joy, and love as people await Jesus.

Today’s scripture begins our first reflection on worshipping Jesus Christ our Lord.

• The first thing that I noticed is ‘wise men’ sought to worship Jesus.

Recall, the first aspect of worship we learned a couple of days ago was…

• Honoring God’s worth: Worship means recognizing and honoring God’s supreme value and perfection. It’s about acknowledging that God alone is worthy of our highest devotion.

Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV) instructs…
[10] “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

When the LORD reveals Himself, wise people seek to honor Him!

• The second thing I noticed in today’s scripture is these wise men saw the Light.

Notice they said, “we have seen His star”.

That reminded me of John 8:12 (NKJV) which shares…
[12] Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

As well as John 1:4-5 (NKJV) which proclaims…
[4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The unstated fact about these wise men seeing His star, is it was most likely while they were in the dark. No doubt there would have been many stars in the sky, but His star shined brightest, and drew them to follow the Light to find the new life.

Seeing the Light is finding new/eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

• Which brings me to the last observation from today’s scripture, the wise men went with an intent to worship.

Notice, after they recognized the King was here, they sought to worship Him, not work Him. Yet we ask God more than we adore Him. 🤔

Could it be that we understand worshipping a King, but don’t comprehend worship is also Honoring God’s worth?…the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it

Paul instructed his protégé, and us in I Timothy 6:13-16 (NKJV)…
[13] I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, [14] that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, [15] which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, [16] who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

We must never cease to honor God, regardless of how we feel or what we want. When you recognize the LORD is in your midst, see the Light and respond by seeking to honor Him, which is worship.

By the way, did you see that part of these wise men’s worship was following His star.

That makes me hear Jesus saying in John 10:27 (NKJV)…My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Following Jesus is worship too!

The rest of these wise men’s story as chronicled in Matthew 2:9-11 (NKJV) is…
[9] When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. [10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. [11] And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I see three things we can learn from these wise men…

• They followed the Light
• They found new Life
• They fell down and worshipped

That makes me hear John 14:6 (NKJV)…Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

We too must…

• Follow the Way through the Truth to new/eternal Life, which we can only
• Find from the Father through His Son. Upon finding Him we must
• Fall prostrate in worship before Him (God).

That’d be a great place to stop, but the Holy Spirit wanted me to show a parallel worship at the end of Immanuel’s (God with us) journey in the flesh.

Luke 7:37-38, 44-47 (NKJV) shares…
[37] And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, [38] and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
[44] Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. [45] You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. [46] You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. [47] Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

First, this woman’s worship is told, from different perspectives in all four gospels. I like this one because it reveals some key feelings God has about worship.

Look again at Jesus’ response to the criticism of this woman’s worship…

• you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head
• You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in
• You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil

…simply put, this woman honored me in your home, you didn’t.

The Holy Spirit connected a new dot this morning, Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)…Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

After we welcome Christ into our hearts, are we intentional about honoring Him?

The connection line is I Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)…
[19] Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? [20] For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

That’s written to believers. As well as Ephesians 4:30 (NLT), which admonishes…
[30] And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Here’s the wisdom of worship today…

• See the LORD…recognize He’s here
• Seek the LORD… follow His direction to find Him
• Serve the LORD…honor Him with your life of obedience

The beginning lyrics of today’s song say it this way…

Come (come)
Let us (come let us adore Him)
Kneel down before Him (kneel down before Him)
Worship and adore Him (worship and adore Him)

Make honoring the LORD, Jesus Christ, your life’s aim, heart’s posture, and devoted mindset. Let that be your meditation through this Advent season. I am sure it would make Him smile 🥰

Bonus Thought: When wise people see the Light, they follow Him to new/eternal life so that they can worship the LORD! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Today’s song is…
Emmanuel

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)