When a year draws close to Christmas, I love to read and mediate on the Christmas story as recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. That’s one of the activities I carry out to help me get into the spirit of Christmas. On the 4th of December, I started this year’s reading and meditation. So, you’re actually right, if you think I got into the spirit of Christmas quite early. Well, with all we’ve experienced in 2020, who would blame anyone for getting into the spirit of Christmas early?
As I read the Christmas story in Matthew Chapter 1 and 2, my attention couldn’t help but be so focused on how supreme the wisdom from God is. When the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 1: 20 & 25 say, “Where is the wise man—the philosopher?—where is the scribe—the scholar? Where is the investigator—the logician, the debater—of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom? …the foolish thing that has its source in God is wiser than men, and the weak thing that springs from God is stronger than man” the Bible was showing us yet another truth we, Christians, should hold dearly and always take advantage of.
I’m so mediating on the supremacy of God’s wisdom, so much so, I said to myself,
“I wish I could write a Christmas song this year…and if I could, it would be about the supremacy of God’s wisdom and how I have access to it because Jesus came into the world.”
I can’t write a song (yet), but I can still put my heart in words. So, here is what the lyrics of my song would have been about:
Joseph was Just and upright
When Joseph knew Mary was pregnant, he was calm and quiet about it…that was self-discipline in action.
When he decided to divorce Mary secretly and quietly…that was a chivalrous move.
When he decided to keep the divorce from the public eye…that was as kind as kind can be.
When he decided to take out time to think about his divorce decision …that was wisdom.
But not every “good” is God
God knew Joseph was a good man, but God chose Joseph to be the earthly father of Jesus because beyond being a “good man” Joseph was a “God man.” He was a man that could hear God. He wasn’t just a man that could hear God; he was also a man that was swift to obey God.
His decision to divorce Mary wasn’t wrong. Why on earth was Mary pregnant? She was supposed to be a virgin. So, it wasn’t wrong for Joseph to divorce someone he couldn’t trust. And when he decided to make the divorce a secret? Come on…that was a gentleman’s move. We should applaud Joseph for that.
The Bible says, Joseph was “Just and Upright.” Joseph’s decisions were very right and extremely noble…but they weren’t godly. God had to interrupt Joseph. There’s the wisdom from the world and there’s the wisdom from God. If we, Christians, only look at how good and wise it is in the physical…we’ll definitely miss and keep missing God.
Then there was King Herod…he was wise too
When King Herod decided to call together all the chief priests and learned men of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born so he can be acquainted with the issue he had at hand…he made a smart move.
When he kept his cool and secretly sent for the wise men that came from the East…he made yet another smart move.
When he asked the wise men how long the star had made itself visible since its rising in the East…that was as smart as smart can be.
When he sent the wise men to Bethlehem saying, “Go and search out the Child carefully and diligently, and when you have found Him bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him” that was wisdom.
When he realized that he had been misled by the wise men, and with fury decided to put to death all the male children in Bethlehem, and in all that territory, who were two years old and under, reckoning according to the date which he had investigated diligently and learned exactly from the wise men…that was very wise of him.
Don’t you think King Herod was wise? Well, try to pause for some minutes…and just imagine you were King Herod who needed to get rid of baby Jesus…what would you have done? Try hard to pretend you don’t know how the story ends. Try to see yourself in the shoes of King Herod. Now don’t you believe his moves were wise? Well, I believe they were.
The killing of the babies (which was King Herod’s last smart move) was a secret mission. It had to be. If it was a mission everyone in the palace knew about, then some beautiful soul would have sent word to the people in Bethlehem. But, I believe King Herod entrusted the mission to people who knew it had to be a secret. If the mothers in Bethlehem knew they were coming for their babies…they would have escaped with their babies, like Joseph and Mary did. They didn’t see it coming, and that was why the killing was successful.
When everything else failed, killing of the babies would have settled everything for King Herod.
But humans wisest wisdom can’t hide itself from God…it stands bare, naked and foolish before God
God knew King Herod was going to come for baby Jesus. It was already revealed by God through the prophets, long before King Herod was born. It was from the written revelation of the prophets that Herod knew Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem. In fact, King Herod was only acting out a script God had already approved.
God also knew He would need humans like Joseph and Mary who can hear Him and act according, immediately. So, He chose them to be the earthly parents of Jesus. When Herod decided to kill the male babies, God just had to send one Angel to speak to Joseph once…and everything was entirely secured, safe and settled.
Indeed, our warfare is not in the flesh. As Christians we need to hear and keep hearing God. Most of the things we struggle with and worry about can just vanish in a twinkle…if we can just hear God, act according, immediately. It’ll save us a whole lot. Nothing is hidden before God—past, present and future. Instead of trying to think it out on your own, get the Holy Spirit involved.
No doubt, there are so many smart moves we can make on our own. Joseph didn’t need God to make a kind and noble decision. King Herod didn’t need the Holy Spirit to make his moves. But the smartest move we can ever make without God is still stupid before God. To even save us from ourselves, God allowed the fallen man to still keep some of the attributes man got from Him because without those attributes the world won’t even be this organized. So, the “smart moves” we can make without God is even because of the attributes of God in man (the breath of God in man). But there’s a higher level, and it is reserved only for those who are born again.
We are God’s Children. God loves us so much. We have a joint-sitting with Christ at the right hand of God. We have the right to boldly go to God…get His wisdom…and then apply it in our daily activities, so why aren’t we using our right?
God doesn’t want us to just keep celebrating the birth of Jesus, without experiencing the benefits that Jesus came on earth to give us access to. Don’t just celebrate Christmas this year. Find time to really understand why Christmas is worth celebrating…and then insist your life will reflect it in every way.
Apart from reading the Christmas story during this time of the year, I also love to sing and dance to Christmas songs. It is yet another way I get into the spirit of Christmas. And while I didn’t get to write a Christmas song like I wished I could, the way my eyes are open (like never before) to the supreme wisdom I have access to is more than enough to get me happy, jumping and dancing this Christmas…even in the absence of music. It should get you excited too.
My prayer for you and me:
As we celebrate with excitement, may our excitement soak us in God’s wisdom and may every aspect of our lives reflect that wisdom, like never before…in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Do have a Beautiful Merry Christmas.
Get in the gym, and
Stay Spiritual Fit
Awesome job, auntie Debbie. God bless you 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Amen.God bless you too dear.
This is one of the great look lessons av learnt about Christmas,it reguvenated resonated something in me. Thank you dear for this inspiring words. You are loved!!! Happy Christmas and make sure u actually dance to the music of Christmas.
Thank you too Ma’am. I’ve been dancing…hahaha. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Love You!
Great lessons! Weldone Debbie.