Suggested reading: Matthew chapter 2 verses 1-12
We continue today with our meditation on the challenges regarding WORSHIP presented to us by the visit of the wise men.
3. CHALLENGE: WHERE DO YOU ‘COME TO WORSHIP’?
We can, of course, worship individually at any time and in any place; however, it is important for us to do so corporately, together with others. Do you have a desire to gather with other Christians in your locality for corporate worship? The wise men came to a place where other like-minded people were and where Jesus was in the midst. There can be no better place to worship than this!
Later on in His life of public ministry and on a different kind of occasion, Jesus promised His disciples, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I AM THERE IN THE MIDST OF THEM’, Matthew chapter 18 verse 20. When did you last meet together with others to worship Christ? I often hear the comment, ‘You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian’. My response is, ‘Why would you not want to?’ Jesus said to a Samaritan woman, ‘But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’, John chapter 4 verses 23-24
4. CHALLENGE: HOW DO YOU WORSHIP?
a) ‘with joy’, verse 10 – when we consider what God has done for us in sending His only Son into this world to be our Saviour, it ought to lead us to worship with joy! It says of the wise men that ‘they rejoiced with exceeding joy’, verse 10.
b) in times of informality that are a feature of the present day, there is a tendency for us to lose the sense of dignity and reverence that ought to accompany worship – the wise men ‘fell down and worshiped Him’, verse 11
To be continued.