Advent Adoration

Near the time of Jesus’ birth God had placed a sign in the sky so that the wise men of the East could find the newborn King of the Jews.  They did not initiate that search.  God did.  It was a simple proclamation that His Son was not only the King of the Jews but would be the King of all the earth.  God sent an invitation and the wise men responded.  With the light that God had given them they sought out the Christ.

It was not to be an easy search.  He had been born in a distant land in a time when travel was difficult.  They didn’t care.  He had been born a foreign king.  They didn’t care.  He had been born in a region where the governing power was at an uneasy peace with all the nations from which the wise men probably came.  They didn’t care.  When they got where they thought they were going they still weren’t there.  When they got stonewalled by the locals, they didn’t care.  Finally an answer was given and they finished their search.  In a house in Bethlehem they found the infant Jesus, He who had been born King of the Jews.

What did they do when they found Him?  The answer to that is the profound truth that all men everywhere, saved and lost, must both understand and emulate.  The wise men worshipped Him.  They knelt down at His feet and gave Him due adoration for who He is.  It is hard to picture them going into that house and raising one hand high and saying, “Yo, man, what’s up?”  Today the Church has become quite casual about worshipping Him.  It is as if He has lost His luster as the Divine.  He became a man, but He was still God and so they worshipped Him.  Paul told us in Philippians 2 that someday every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  They will all fall at His feet and worship Him.  Whether they are Christians or Jews or Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus or atheists, they will all bow at His feet and worship Him and declare that He is the eternal Son of God. 

This Advent season let us make sure that we have on our “to do list” to worship Him every day.  Let us bring our gifts of praise and thanksgiving and fall down at His feet and adore the Wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace whose name is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  “O Come, Let Us Adore Him.

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the King of angels; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.” 

Words by John F. Wade

 

 

The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

 

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You may also find some of my selected daily devotions at http://blog.febc.org/