In My Heart

"Where is the new born King of the Jews?" Matthew 2:2

If we seek Him, we will find Him. This is what God promised in Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” And so the Magi from the East set off to find Him. Mystery surrounds these men from the East. In an ancient Syriac manuscript found in the Vatican, “Revelations of the Magi”, they are described as monk-like mystics, descendants of Seth, “guardians of an age-old prophecy that a star of indescribable brightness would someday appear heralding the birth of God in human form”. They set off from far away determined to find God and they found Him. They probably did not expect to find Him in miserable circumstances, but they offered Him their treasures. Traditionally, we think there were three of them because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We too make an offering of gold when we put Him first over the things this world offers, when we proclaim Him King over our lives. We offer Him incense every time we pray, and myrrh when we sacrifice and deny ourselves of that which displeases Him. 

Are we like the Magi, these Wise Men, in that we are determined to seek God, even through deserts and the wilderness of our lives? Contrast their hearts with the heart of King Herod who asked the Wise men, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so I may also go and pay him homage.” God knew Herod was not seeking Jesus to pay Him homage but to destroy Him. 

We may think we can never be like Herod, but every time we put ourselves before God, our ways before God’s ways, we try to destroy God’s throne because we want to sit on it. Lord, may I seek You with everything in me, so when someone asks, “Where is King Jesus?”, I can say, “He is in my heart!”