Wise Men • Devotion 5

True Worship
Josh Thayer

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.” Matthew 2:10-12

What does true worship really look like? Is it something that we can see on the outside or does it only exist inside of us? Here in Matthew chapter 2, we see the wise men, after searching for what historians think is 1-2 years, finding Jesus! After a long journey, they meet Jesus and they fall on their knees and worship Him.

At this point in Jesus’ life, He really has not done anything. He was just a child, and yet the wise men worshiped him. Here we get a small glimpse of what true worship really looks like. They decided to worship Jesus for who He is and they were willing to give Him what was valuable to them. Think about it. At this point, it is not like Jesus healed their bodies or forgave them of their sins. Jesus literally did nothing for these wise men and yet they fell on their knees and worshiped Him. They worshiped Him not because of what He did, but because of who He was.

That is true worship. It is when we are not looking to get anything out of it, but the willingness to worship Jesus for who He is. We should not have to be prompted to worship Jesus because of something. We should be willing to worship Him because He deserves it. He puts the very breath in our lungs every day. He gave us everything we have and everyone around us. The gift is not what He has done, the gift is Him. When we realize that, we can experience true worship. True worship is to say, “Thank you, Jesus, for everything,” and not expect anything in return.

The other thing you notice about the wise men is they gave Jesus something of value to them - gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At this time in history, those gifts were very valuable. What is something valuable to you? I know, for me, one of the most valuable things is time. It is something you can never get back and you get a fixed amount every day. It is very easy for me to fill my time with other things that do not help me grow spiritually. Maybe I do not need to watch one more episode on Netflix and I can choose to read my Bible instead. Maybe I do not need to play video games late into the night and I can do a Bible study. There are many options on how to manage your time. Have you looked at how you manage your time lately?

So, this Christmas, try to bring Jesus true worship every day. Try praying and not asking for anything. Try reading your Bible to learn more about who Jesus was and not simply to check off a task on your to-do list. Try and sing a worship song to God with the intent to give Jesus all the praise and glory He deserves. Try giving Jesus more of your time. That is true worship and that is a gift we can give this Christmas season.

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