Worshipping Wisemen Who Listened

This gorgeous arrangement was a very unexpected gift from a recent houseguest!

I"m still pondering all the various players in the Christmas story.  The wisemen actually were not at Jesus' birth, but appeared a couple years later.  After having a couple nightmares recently, one related to identity theft, I'm praying I take to heart a warning as the wisemen did when they did not go back to King Herod.

Here's my other take away.  How far I'm I willing to travel to worship the Lord?

Matthew Chapter 2: 1-12

" When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote, 'Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are very important among the towns of Judea. From your town will come a leader, who will be like a shepherd  for my people Israel.’”

Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star.  He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too.”

The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road."

How far out of the way of your plans today will you go to worship the Lord?