Sages leave your contemplations
Brighter vision beam afar
Seek the great desire of nations
Ye have seen his natal star
The wise men must have been used to some heavy duty thinking
as they studied the heavens and pondered the significance of the course of the
stars and other heavenly bodies. However when they saw Jesus’ star, they
realised that something or rather someone of great significance had come into
the world.
They left their safe world of learning and esteem to journey
across a desert to an unknown land and people to find a king born to the Jews.
They were not Jewish yet they realised from their studies that someone of great
significance for all people had come into the world.
They left everything to find him, travelled across
inhospitable landscape, bearded Herod in his palace, which was probably a
dangerous thing to do and yet persevered till they found the child.
Years later the disciples too left everything to find and
follow Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James and John left their fishing business and
Matthew left his lucrative tax collecting business.
Even today many are having to give up so much to follow
Jesus. Muslims converting to Christianity are often ostracised by their
families and may find it hard to find employment. In some countries
Christianity is outlawed and believers are put in prison or even killed for
their faith. They suffer much to follow the
great desire of nations.’
In the West we may not have to leave family, friends, jobs
and careers to follow him but ‘a brighter
vision beams afar’ and it may require us to lay down some of our
preferences and pastimes to follow him. The one thing that is certain is that
it will be worth it.
The wise men may not have known what they had missed if they
had stayed at home but I am certain they were so thankful they made that
journey and would have considered it of great worth. They would have had no
idea that their journey would become an integral part of the story of the birth
of Jesus, remembered by millions every year but that would be nothing compared
to actually seeing and worshipping the Saviour of the world.
We may never know how our journeys will affect the wider
world but it is always worth pursuing what God has placed on our hearts, even
if costly, because if nothing else it will shape our lives forever just as I am
sure the wise men’s journey shaped them for the rest of their lives.
