New Direction

Christmas is full of traditions. Many of the traditions are passed down from family line to family line. Every year, it is something has the same routine. As a person who struggles with a life infused with too much tradition, I do appreciate and love the sense of tradition, but in the original Christmas story, some people had to break what they knew, and go in a new direction.

The Magi travelled for a long time searching for the King of the Jews. When King Herod discovered that they were on their journey and following a star, he asked them to return to him and tell him where this king was so he could go and worship him. Actually, Herod wanted to kill Jesus. The Magi had no idea of this plot of the king; they just went with their intention to follow that star and bring gifts to the newborn king.

Once they arrived at the house or place where Jesus was, (Sorry, they didn’t make it to the manger scene, as they were still searching) they gave their gifts and worshipped Jesus. Then in a dream they were warned to return home using a different route. They obeyed the angel in the dream and went home in a different direction, and King Herod was never informed where this baby was. The Magi, however, represent what occurs when we first meet Jesus.

Once we meet Jesus, we need to live our lives in a new and different direction. No longer are we under the pressure of the chains that hold us back from being who God has created us to be. Once we meet Jesus, he cleans us from our sins, and we should walk away knowing that our life has changed. Our life has changed because when someone loves us so much to give everything up for us, it changes us, and we can no longer travel in the same direction as we were before we met Him.

It takes faith to change the direction of which we are going. It takes faith to step into something new. It takes leaving behind the way we used to do life. it takes courage. It takes going when you may have to do this type of living alone. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. The Magi were members of a priestly estate of ancient Persia. They were also Sorcerers. They were used to taking risks. They were used to doing new events in life. They were always taking risks, as they took the risk to follow the star all the way to Bethlehem. There journey is still known today. May we begin to take journeys that influence others in this generation and beyond. It all starts with going home in a new direction.