Wise Men

We all know the story of the three wise men (kings) who traveled many miles to find the child who had been foretold (prophesied). These men risked much to be in the presence of this future king. They each brought gifts of great value with which to honor the child, and worshiped in his presence.

Many books, signs, cards and T-shirts still proclaim the message that “Wise Men Still Seek Him”. I passed such a sign recently and I asked myself – do they really?

Then I thought – do wise men seek God, or does a man become wise by seeking God? Honestly, they both may be accurate. The question for us is – do we honestly seek Him? Do we, as men, truly desire His company? Do we long to be in His presence? Do we really want to know what He has to say to us – or are we secretly afraid of what we might hear?

Our enemy would have us believe one or more of the following lies that:

God is mad at me because of sinful things in my past.

God is too busy to fool with the mundane things going on in my life.

God is going to tell me to do something I really don’t want to do – aka – He is going to really mess up my plans.

Whichever lie it is – it is still a lie. God is the most loving, patient, forgiving, caring, kind Father we could ever encounter. There is absolutely no reason to shy away from Him or fear Him. The Bible actually tells us that, because of what Christ has already done, we can come “boldly before God’s throne” to avail ourselves of His love, grace and help in our time of need.

Think about what is keeping you from bounding out of bed everyday eager to encounter the most gracious, giving and loving Person you could ever know. You were created by Him, and He deeply desires for you to live life with Him. He wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. He love you. Heck – He even likes you.

Christmas reminds us that wise men seek God, and that God is eager to be found. Let’s reject the lies and seek Him like never before. I am convinced that we will be blown away by what we find.

Merry Christmas,

Huz

Treasure

It’s so hard at Christmas time not to get a little lusty. I would really like to upgrade from an iPhone 3 to a 4.0. My laptop is getting old and Apple is having a really good sale on MacBooks. And don’t you know the Bowl games would look so much better on a bigger, high-def television.

It’s not that I’m materialistic or greedy – it would just be nice sometime to be able to just go out and buy that “thing” I really want, no matter what it costs. If I’m honest, I must confess that even though I truly feel content with what I have, there is a secret place inside my soul that would be severely challenged if I won the lottery or inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My mind understands, and my spirit agrees, that I can’t take anything from this world with me when I check out. Everything I own will pass on to someone else. They also understand that the Bible says not to love the world or the things in the world, and not to store up for myself treasures that will rust and rot – but to store up treasure in heaven. I know these things, and truly want to do them – but my flesh still snarls when I see a young punk driving a $60k BMW or Range Rover. Oh well….

The older I get the more I realize that things truly do not satisfy, and that what truly matters for eternity are your walk with God and your interaction with, and influence on, other people. Almost every week I get a sad sort of feeling come over me that wishes that I had understood these things much earlier in my life.

The Bible talks about where my treasure is, my heart will be also. My heart will follow what I hold valuable.

If I see my daily walk with Christ as truly valuable – I won’t have any problem making time to spend with Him. If I place my wife’s needs above my own, and “give myself up for her” as commanded by the Lord – I will eagerly seek to sacrifice my desires on her behalf. At the end of the day, I will invest my time and resources in those things that I see as most valuable.

What is most valuable to me? I really have to take some time to give myself an honest answer. The simple answer can be found by looking over my calendar and my checkbook. These will tell what/who gets my time and money. This is where I am investing myself.

Christmas and New Year’s is a great time to reflect. Assess what happened last year, and plan/dream about the next. What will be different next year? How will my marriage be different? What will make our relationship better? What is God calling me to do with 2011?

Over the Holidays let’s take some deliberate, alone time to determine where our treasure/heart really is.

The Lord will guide you always (Isa. 58:11),

Huz