Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrhh.  And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.    Matthew 2:11-12 HCSB

Those that are considered to be wise are considered to be wise because they have a proven track record of doing wise things.  So think about this for a moment.  These men were called wise men in the Bible.  So, no doubt they had a history of wise behavior.  They were known to be intelligent.  

Now the entire story of the wise men happened like this.  These wise men from the east showed up in Jerusalem inquiring about the new King that had just been born as they wished to worship Him.  Now King Herrod didn’t want to hear about some young baby taking his place so he wants to find this Child in order to do Him harm.  Herrod tells the wise men to find the baby King and let him know where he is so that he too can worship Him.  Herrod tries to trick the wise men into leading him to baby Jesus.  The wise men followed the star which lead them straight to Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus.  They bowed down and worshiped Him and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Now, obviously they were not called wise men without reason.  They were warned in a dream not to return to Herrod and they obeyed this.  

You see these wise men had a choice, they could have paid close attention to their dream which no doubt came from God or they could have paid attention to King Herrod.  Now Herrod desperately wanted to end the life of young Jesus and may have richly rewarded these men for their information.  But, they understood who this Baby was.  They knew that He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They made the right choice, the wise choice.

Now you may be reading this and thinking, “yeah I know the story of the wise men, but what’s that got to do with me here and now?”  Well, I’m glad you asked.  You see, these wise men were faced with a choice.  There would be huge consequences if they made the wrong choice.  It’s the same for you and me each and every day of our lives.  Our choices have huge consequences.  Even seemingly small decisions can have really big consequences. 

Every day we must decide if we are going to follow that bright and shining star or if we are going to go the way of the world.  The way of the world looks good, it means that you don’t really have to invest time in reading the Bible, praying, or attending church.  You can kind of do your own thing and God will just understand and grant you a pass because you are so special.  Yeah, I know how you think because I used to think that way.  I’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.  But you know what, it really didn’t work that way.  God wasn’t giving me a pass, apparently I wasn’t so special after all.  You see, God does not show favoritism.  He loves all of His children just the same (Acts 10:34).  So he disciplines us all the same.  He is a God of justice (Deuteronomy 32:4) and none of us get a  free pass to sin and get away with it.   Now, I am a slow learner, but after about 20 years I figured out that I had to make some changes.

This is when I decided to let go of the ways of the world and stop worrying about what I wanted to do and follow that bright shining star.  I decided to let Jesus guide my life for me.  What an awesome decision that was.  I committed my life to Him and He helps me each and every day to make good choices.  Now, don’t get me wrong there are some times when I get a little gippy and I jump out on my own and make some stupid decisions, but those times are getting fewer and farther between.  I have learned to let go and let God handle my life.  I have learned to put Him first and let Him get in the front and lead me.  I have learned to trust Him and obey Him.  The end result-peace that passes all understanding and everlasting joy.  I am telling you all this because I want you to have what I have.  You see, what I have is so awesome that I want everyone to have the same.  

So today, you have a choice to make.  You can go the way of the world and listen when satan tells you that it is okay, God will understand.  Or, you can follow God’s lead.  You can talk to Him through prayer and listen to Him through His Holy Word.  You can develop a close relationship with Him and trust in Him to guide you as you go through each and every day

My prayer for you today is that you choose wisely.  Remember, they didn’t call them wise men for nothing.

Have a great day!