overjoyed

The Journey of the Magi by James Tissot, 1894

The story of the Magi in the Bible is one which is familiar to most of us. But because we are so familiar with the story we miss out the great lesson we can learn from them. I recently learned that according to Jewish tradition or legend, they were considered to have come from the east possibly Persia. Considering Persia to be their origin and their destination was Israel, it is estimated to be more than a thousand miles and yet they took that journey with a single purpose: to worship Jesus. They knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of a promise given hundreds of years before their time. A promise of salvation to man and redemption. Despite the distance and the hardships along the way, they braved the journey just to come to Jesus and worship Him. Moreover, they did not come with with weary hearts or faces but the Bible says in Matthew 2:10, that when they found the star leading them to Jesus they were overjoyed or in other translations, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Today, where travel is just a few minutes or hours away, do we feel the discomfort and complain or give up our time to worship God? When we are in such situations, let us remember the Magi who never gave up on their journey to come and worship Jesus and more importantly, when they arrived, they were exceedingly joyful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!