When the Journey is Long at Christmas

Magi from the east came . . . to worship him. Matthew 2:1,2

The longest journey we ever made at Christmas on land was from Bryan, Texas, to Warm Springs, Georgia, where my husband's parents lived. It was 840 miles, which made it a two-day trip for our small family. But it was worth every mile to see family we didn't see as often as we wanted to.

The Magi get the prize for taking the longest journey at the first Christmas. While no one knows exactly where the Magi originated, many connect them to Persia, where Nebuchadnezzar asked wise men to interpret his dream. If they came from Persia, they could have traveled close to 800 miles! Add to that the necessity to travel by night to follow the star, and their journey took much longer than our four weeks of Advent!

I’ve often thought about these eastern scientists/astrologers who followed a miraculous star only to find what all scientists look for: the origin of life! They had studied, calculated, and consulted. They had to gather provisions for such a journey and hire help.

Perhaps we should put a modern-day scientist in our nativity scene, a white-lab-coated worshiper with a beaker to remind us of the enormous truth we too quickly overlook. God brought a group of gentile scientists to Him the way they knew best, through the science and astrology they spent their lives studying.

That gives me hope that God knows how to find the right opening into any heart. He knows the truth that will bring them to their knees. It gives me hope for the cynical, the calculating, the doubters, and the stubborn.

I wish we knew what happened to these faithful travelers after they left Jesus. Did they hear about the one who taught and healed and wondered if it was the child with whom they shared their gifts? Did they keep an open place in their heart and continue to look where God led them for more Truth?

What I do know this story teaches is that we should make our journeys to Christmas as prepared and focused as theirs. We must remember that the journey is just as important as the destination. We should expect our own “guiding star” from God to keep us alert to what He wants us to find this Christmas. More love? More forgiveness? More faith? More wisdom? More hope? God will give us more of anything He knows will make our journey all it needs to be.

And the other good news is that He has a "star" for the reluctant.  He knows what will stir their interest to, send them on a journey that is often longer than we wish to a time and place where they find Jesus.

Here's to long journeys this Christmas and the prayers that keep us headed in the right direction!

Are you following this year's Advent Calendar? If not, you can download it below.:

Click her here for "Let Every Heart Prepare" Advent Calendar