I pray you had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and peace. I pray you were surrounded with family and friends and, of course, lots of good food. I also bet that even though it was all great, you are happy that it is over! Now we can just get back to our normal lives and before we know it, it will be Christmas again.

Did you know that the story of the Wise Men appears only in the book of Matthew? We really don’t know much about them except that they were probably scientists and/or astrologers. God led them to follow the star to find the Christ child. They knew He was to be worshiped even though He was only a child.

Since these men were from the east, they probably did not believe in God.  They  worshiped idols and yet God sent them to worship Jesus, the King of the Jews. Our nativity scenes depict the Three Wise Men at the manger.  However, we know this has just become tradition and not the fact.

Three Wise Men – Travelers from the East

The Wise Men traveled thousands of miles to see the Baby Jesus.  He was probably at least a year old before they arrived. We do know that they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death.

Matthew 2:11-12 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Think about this: God can use any of us to fulfill His purpose.