Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 205 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Christmas Wisdom: The Story of the Wise Men #1
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 205 of our Trek, and this week we are hiking the Christmas Trail to learn about some of the key players in the Christmas story. It is my hope that we will learn from these stories that bring hope to the world, not only during Christmas but each day of the year. Each story will cover two days and for today, we will explore the first part of the story titled Christmas Wisdom: The Story of the Wise Men. These stories are adapted from lessons taught originally by Raymond van Plesten. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. There are many activities for this week as we wrap up before heading north on Christmas Eve. We should be leaving early in the day and dropping Paula’s mom off at her sister Ruth’s house in Spotsylvania, Virginia for Christmas. Then Paula and I will head on to Marietta and should get in late on Christmas Eve.
Fred and his friend Doug came over for dinner on Monday evening, and we watched the Grinch movie. We also were able to watch our grandson Kip on Monday, so Kip and Chelimo joined us for the evening. It is great to be able to spend time with family.
During this Christmas week, we continue to invest our time on our Trek together reflecting on the true stories surrounding the original Christmas. Today we will explore the first part of our story…
Christmas Wisdom: The Story of the Wise Men #1
As we hike the Christmas Trail together today, let me start by reading the story of the Wise Men in Matthew 2:1-12.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling citie] of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview, the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
The story of the wise men is a story that is shrouded in mystery. From tradition, we seem to know all the facts and details. But, as we study the scripture, we find that there are a lot of questions we cannot answer about the wise men from the Biblical text. For example…
How many were there? We don’t know.
Where did they come from? We don’t know.
How long did their journey take? We don’t know.
They seem to just show up mysteriously, and just as mysteriously they are gone. But one thing I am certain about is that the number of wise men and women increases in every generation as people continue to seek Christ. Today and tomorrow we will look at three facts that we can learn from the story of the wise men. We will cover the first one today and then continue with the remaining two tomorrow.
1. A wise man’s journey is one of faith.
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
What would prompt someone to leave the comfort of home to go on a dangerous journey? Romance? Yes. Wealth? Most definitely. But faith? Yes, even faith. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?” What a probing question! There is no doubt in their language that He had been born. The question is “Where is He?” They had seen the star. The evidence was real…Now where is He? They had faith that He was alive – that He existed. Now all they needed to do was to find Him.
Their purpose was established – find Him. And so they were willing to risk everything to find Him. They were willing to leave the safety of their homes to risk a perilous journey to seek a King. This was their Wisdom-Trek.
Can you imagine their neighbor’s reaction? “Are you going on a journey?” “Yes.” “Where are you going?” “We don’t know for sure.” “How far is it?” “Well, we don’t know that either.” “How long are you going to be gone?” “Well we’re not quite sure on that either.” “Boy, for wise men you sure don’t know much do you?”
But you know they must have said the same things to Abraham when he left his home for the Promised Land. They must have said the same things to Noah who was building an ark, even though it had never rained in the history of the earth up until that point. They must have said the same kind of things to Peter, Andrew, John, and James when they left the fishing nets to become fishers of men. What are you crazy? Are you insane? Are you out of your minds? No not crazy. Not insane. Not out of their minds. They were men of faith.
FACT: God’s journeys always involve faith.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us about faith, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
People of faith have been willing to respond to the challenges of the unknown over and over again throughout history.
William Cary was a shoemaker when one day he heard of the millions of people in India who had not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. He believed the great commission to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” He believed that that verse was speaking directly to him, so he volunteered to go to India. But, he was told, “Young man, sit down. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help.” Cary went anyway, supporting himself. For seven years he worked without seeing a single convert, but by the end of his life, he saw hundreds of churches and thousands of converts. Today he is known as the “Father of Modern Missions.” He was a man of faith.
If we are going to be wise men and women on our trek of life, we need to know and internalize the three facts for our trek. We looked at the first fact today, which is that our trek of life will always involve faith. A wise person realizes that in life no one knows the future with certainty, so you must rely on faith in the One who does know. It is God through His Word that will give us direction, even if we can only see a few steps in front of us. Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Tomorrow we will explore the remaining two facts in our story Christmas Wisdom: The Story of the Wise Men. Please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!