Matthew 2: Approaching Christ & Following Direction

The Approach

How do we approach Christ? Many have differing approaches based on the time they found Him and joined in relationship with Him. When someone grows up in the church and comes to salvation at an earlier stage - they often times seem less than "on fire" about Jesus. However, those who find Him later in life, especially when feeling brought out of a self-destructive lifestyle, often times seem to be sprinting in his direction!

Well what is the right approach? The first example of approaching Christ is given through the wisemen:

• They came searching him out (vs 2)

• They studied the scriptures about him (vs 5-6)

• They got up and went to him - remember travel in those days was far from safe and easy like today (vs 1 & 8)

• As they drew closer and gained direction they rejoiced! (vs 10)

• When in his presence they had hearts ready to worship & they did! (vs 11)

• They gave to him (vs 11)

What do all these actions show? They show the wisemen put everything aside and sacrificed their time in their pursuit to draw nearer to the most high.

When examining your relationship with the Good Lord - the approach of the wisemen is a great benchmark to look to:

• Are you searching for Christ in your day to day and throughout the life you're living?

• Are you studying his character and learning all you can about him through the scriptures?

• Are you willing to get up and go out to find him in the way you're feeling called & directed - even when it's hard (church, bible studies, mission work, etc.)?

• Are you excited as you learn more about Christ and rejoice in the direction you're given?

• Do you come before him with a heart of worship? Do you worship and praise him?

• What do you give up to the Lord (tithing, donating, giving to the needy, etc.)?

• Do you put life on hold and put real time and effort into growing closer to the Lord?

In no way am I saying that the wisemen were perfect examples of how we are to live our lives as Christians. However, it sure is interesting that a group of distinguished men were willing to put their lives on hold to seek out a child. A child who had not yet had a chance to display his incredible majesty. They were led by faith & belief in God the Father and the validity of the scripture they had (sounds a lot like what we have today). And in the seeking they found the Christ and were in his presence (Matthew 7:7).

Following Direction

Not only does Matthew 2 give us a great example of how to approach Christ, but it has several great examples of hearing and following God's directives:

1. The wisemen were "warned" in a dream and they followed the warning (vs 12)

2. Joseph was directed in a dream and he followed seemingly immediately (vs 13-15)

3. Joseph again seems to immediately uproot his family and move based on an instruction from the Lord (vs 19-23)

The first two examples of listening to the voice of the Lord (direction coming by way of dreams and by an angel of the Lord) show incredible weight and importance. If the wisemen hadn't followed the direction to avoid king Herod or if Joseph had ignored the directives to "flee" Egypt, Jesus's life could have been in jeopardy! Obviously, God's will could never be destroyed, nor do I believe if Joseph or the wisemen had failed to follow God's instructions, God wouldn't have still protected Jesus. However, can you imagine the complications that could have taken place!

Throughout the scriptures we see how complicated things can get when we aren't following or trusting God's original plan, and voice. Just a couple of these times were:

1. God promised Sarah & Abraham a child & after time they gave up faith and took matters into their own hands. This resulted in Abraham having a child with Hagar (Ishmael) who grew up to be the father of some of the most destructive nations in history (Genesis 16:12)

2. Israel was never supposed to have an earthly king but were supposed to be led directly by God. However, they begged for one anyways - even after Samuel the prophet explained the incredible consequences they could face. The result was some of the most tyrannical evil kings in history (1 Samuel 8 & 1 Kings 21:25)

There's story after story of individuals ignoring God's warning and instruction, and the horrible consequences and altered paths they are then forced to take. Still, if the Bible’s examples aren't enough - think about the times in your own life that you ignored God's instruction (learned through your Bible reading, Bible class, pastor's teaching, etc.) and the horrible repercussions you faced. Do any of these ring a bell:

• Emotional & physical baggage from dating someone that didn't share in your beliefs that God would never have approved of to begin with (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

• A criminal record or destroyed relationships from substance abuse (Ephesians 5:18)

• Financial stress & pain from being driven by money or being careless with it (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

As a human being, especially in today’s age, mistakes are ample and going to happen. How easy it is to look back at the characters of old, or Israel as a whole and say "how wouldn't they learn their lesson?" Well my question is "How don't we learn our lesson?"

From who we are to be as Christian men and women to how we are to act is all laid out for us and in our best interest. Still, we buck it time and time again. Thank God for forgiveness, grace, and mercy (one of the greatest examples of this in God's character is the Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32

Finally, the last example of following direction in this chapter is again by Joseph - what an amazing example it is. Joseph, again receives direction by way of dream, is told to flee Egypt and head to Israel. Nothing is written that even shows Joseph questioning this directive for a moment’s time. It's written that he immediately uproots his family and heads to the appointed area. What if we lived with this level of trust and faith in God's directives? How different would things be? How much more blessed would we feel?

Obviously, things are different today than in Bible times. It's not that God can't talk to us through a dream, etc., however, we now have his word completed as a finished instruction manual to Christianity and life itself! Let's learn from the wisemen and Joseph in this chapter and act speedily, without question, when it comes to the direction God has set before us.

#ApproachingChrist #Matthew2