"We have come to worship Him." (Matthew 2:2 GNT)
The wise men spent their entire lives learning to worship God rightly.
We don’t know much about them, but we can be certain that their education, experience and expertise led up to this moment in a stable in Bethlehem. I presume the same is true for us.
We are born. We learn to touch and see and hear and pay attention to the work around us. We string together sounds and eventually start to speak. We acquire control of our limbs so eventually, we move about; standing and walking and grabbing hold and letting go. Many of us gain an education. We memorize symbols and sounds until their mystery is decoded. We practice reading and writing, until we firmly grasp the foundations for more complex ideations. We may gain a diploma, a degree, a sense of what we can contribute to the world. All the while we engage in relationships, also. Mom and Dad at first, then siblings, playmates, fellow students, coworkers, eventually a spouse.
What is all of this about? As Rick Warren so famously asked, “What on earth am I here for?”
The ancient seekers still lead the way. “We have come to worship Him.” This breath, this body, these talents and acquisitions, these exercises and experiences: they are all about learning to worship God rightly. Not just today with whatever understanding we currently possess, but tomorrow and the day after and forty years from now, too. We are ever learning to worship Him from wherever we stand and whatever we know.
I look at my daughter, nineteen with the world on a string. She has so many aspirations and interpretation about how the world works and who she is in it. She worships from where she is living. As her mother, I think about who she is becoming; how someday she’ll be a wife and mom and minister and how she might learn to worship Him through those experiences, also.
I look at my friends; mid-life, mid-marriage, mid-parenting. We all have bills and responsibilities and concerning moles and a whole heap of unanswered questions about why life works out like it does. We are each learning to worship God through our current experience, also.
I look to our mentors; retired missionaries and ministers. Men and women who have sold out their lives for the gospel and come to the end of their term. Precious folks who look back and reconsider their contributions but can’t alter a lick of it. Friends whose daily battle is the belief that the best now lies behind. They, too, are learning to worship.
Wise men and women are fixated on worship in every season, ever state, every twist and turn along the way. Wise men and women make their way to the manger year after year, bringing the gifts they possess in that moment. Wise men and women remember their lives are not about them, but time on the planet is a limited engagement where we learn to worship.
Under the altar, in Bethlehem, touching the believed place of Christ’s birth.
As author Scott Erickson pointed out: the wise men were paying attention. This is, of course, how we learn best and maybe why learning is so difficult this day and age. There’s so much going on. We’re so easy distracted. But very likely, learning to worship God throughout a lifetime begins by paying attention.
"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day." (1 Chronicles 16:23 NIV)
Lord, today we acknowledge our distraction. We are still learning to worship rightly. Every bit of our story up to today has been preparation to ascribe You glory in these 24 hours. Help us pay attention. Make us faithful to our task. You are worthy. Wonderful. Sovereign. Steadfast. Kind. Just. And good. We are grateful. May we never grow weary of worshiping You amidst every season. Amen.