Another Way

Did you ever plan a trip and have someone or something re-arrange your well-made plans? It happened to the wise men. I’m not sure how well-made their plans were but their instructions were clear. Herod told them to, “go and search diligently for the young child” (Matthew 2:8). Somewhere along their star-directed way, they picked up a few gifts. They should have let their wives do the shopping for them. Gold is not a bad gift for any occasion. Frankincense was OK assuming no one was allergic to it. But myrrh was a commonly used funeral ointment. Hardly a gift fit for a new-born child. You know the rest of the story, or do you? Have you ever noticed the interesting words at the end of the account? “They departed for their own country another way” (Matthew 2:12). No one, wise or unwise, ever has a genuine gift-giving encounter with Jesus and goes back the same way. When we meet Him and give Him our lives, we can never walk the same path again. Those things we once loved we now despise. Those things we once distrusted, we now love. These two words may be the most descriptive of all the language used to explain the conversion experience and the subsequent following of Jesus. “Another way.” The wise men experienced a divine interruption, followed by a divine revelation and then followed by divine directions. “Another way.” Today is the day before we celebrate the birth of our Lord. Are your gifts to Him appropriate for a Child/King? And having encountered Him again this Christmas, which way will you go?