Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Soaked in God's Word, Sprouting Seeds of Faith

Worshipping Like Wise Men

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Today’s reading: Matthew 2:1-12

I can’t fib here, or skirt around the truth: I struggle with worship. Oh, I can praise God for Who He is: God of love, faithful, healer, jealous, provider. I can thank Him for all He does: answers prayer, protects.

But worship? If I praise God for who He is, how then do I worship Him? Because we all know it’s more than just singing songs.

So, I looked to the Magi.

They were foreigners from the East. Although the Magi were Gentiles, they knew what was written by the prophets about Messiah. They followed the star that led to Jesus.

  “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:2 (NASB)

 And then?

They rejoiced with great joy.

They fell to the ground in worship.

Finally, they presented Him with the treasures they had brought.

The Magi found great joy in Jesus. We can too, during this season. At times it may be stressful, but we can choose to rejoice that our Savior lives, and that He will one day return for us.

They gave Him their treasures.  What treasure do you hold dear? For me, it is control. As I worship Jesus, I can honor Him with my love, and submit control of my life to Him. 

The Wise Men worshipped Him. In a literal sense, this means to fall to the ground, to prostrate oneself. But I’ve also found a definition that is befitting worship of the King of Kings: 

Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission. 

True worship, in other words, is the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of preferences. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness and submission. 

We can worship by honoring God with God honoring behavior.

To worship Jesus, we can surrender our treasures to Him in love and honor; we can humble ourselves and bow low before Him; we can recognize His worth, and keep Him top priority during this Holy season – and always!

Points to Ponder:

*What are different ways you can express your worship of Jesus this Christmas? Caroling, giving, finding joy in your circumstances?

*For further reading: John 12:1-8. Mary pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. What treasure can you lay at the feet of Jesus?

Praying Like Jesus

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There are so many situations that I find myself in, and I’m thinking “I don’t want to be here. I really, really don’t want to do this.” And yet, I know it must be done. Lately, I’ve found that when I pray like Jesus in Matthew 26, my heart is eased at the circumstances I’m facing.

Most how to articles on prayer use the Lord’s prayer as a template (Matthew 6:9-13). After all, it was the answer to the apostles request:

“Lord, teach us to pray…”

It is a beautiful example of how to pray, especially the “forgive” part in verse twelve. Trust me, I’ve prayed those words a time or two or ten thousand. Matter of fact, I’ve prayed it in all caps and personalized: …as I forgive THOSE WHO HAVE TRESPASSED AGAINST ME.

But that isn’t the prayer of Jesus’ that I’m writing about today. It is the prayer He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was arrested and crucified (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44-46, HCSB, emphasis added). In this prayer, we see Jesus’ humanness and utter desperation:

39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
44 After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the time is near. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Get up; let’s go! See, My betrayer is near.”

Jesus has a reverent and submissive approach to God: He falls facedown in prayer. He also calls God “My Father.” In His time of deepest need, Jesus ran into the loving arms of His Daddy. Jesus was grieved at the suffering He was about to endure on the cross.

Jesus’ first request to God says, in essence “If it’s possible, don’t make me walk through this. Take this hard thing away.” But He still says “Not My will, but Yours.”

He’s saying what I’ve said in many a prayer “Please don’t make me do it!” Sadly I don’t include “Not my will but Yours, sweet Lord…”

The second time Jesus prays, He says “If You can’t take it away, if I must walk through it, let Your will be done.” He knows that anything is possible with God, that His Father CAN take it away, but also that God’s will must be done. And if it’s God’s will that this should happen, then Jesus must walk it. There’s a slight shift from “let it pass from Me” to “if it can’t” – almost as if He is saying “So be it.”

The real change of heart comes the third time Jesus prays. We see that God’s will became Jesus’s will. Jesus had reconciled His heart to the will of His Father. Not only that, He embraces God’s will for Him: The time is near…Get up! Let’s go!
May we all pray with a heart ready and eager to change to the will of our Father in heaven.

Lord, most days I ask You to bless my will and my plans. God, change my heart! Give me an attitude of reverent submission to embrace Your will, not mine. In Jesus’ powerful name, Amen.

Grace be with you,