January 21

The wise men departed alone from Jerusalem. The shadows of night were falling as they left the gates, but to their great joy they again saw the star, and were directed to Bethlehem. They had received no such intimation of the lowly estate of Jesus as was given to the shepherds. After the long journey they had been disappointed by the indifference of the Jewish leaders, and had left Jerusalem less confident than when they entered the city. At Bethlehem they found no royal guard stationed to protect the new-born King. None of the world's honoured men were in attendance. Jesus was cradled in a manger. His parents, uneducated peasants, were His only guardians. Could this be He of whom it was written, that He should "raise up the tribes of Jacob," and "restore the preserved of Israel;" that He should be "a light to the Gentiles," and for "salvation unto the end of the earth"? Isa. 49:6.

                   Desire of Ages, page 63 from the chapter, 'We have seen His star'

     As we all know this child really was to be the light of the Gentiles, and the Magi were about to meet with Him. As they entered the door there is the child, unable to speak, unable to do anything for himself, only a baby, yet with so much potential – to save a world.

     And as people meet you what do they see? Well, at the very least you are educated. At the most you are now the member of the royal family, but for the moment held in disguise. There is an expression, “A cat can look at a king”. Goodness knows if this is the true meaning of the proverb but it certainly fits the cats of my neighbourhood. Your average cat is not the pet of the house but the owner. He, or she, trains the humans to serve him, or her. Your average cat wanders from house to house with freedom and the confidence to go where your average cat pleases. For the purposes of this blog – it is the confidence, the commission and the source of the permission that matters.

     You have the commission from God to go to all people. Your educational status is no bar to your visitation. The area of town that you live in does not exclude you and your message. You have God’s permission to meet all people. You may also have the confidence that where you go God sends His angel’s with you.

     You have another advantage. You may be equipped for your task. God will give you the words, your church Pastor and Elders may provide training – and – as you ask, the Holy Spirit may fill you.

     The Magi may have been three educated princes of a far off Kingdom, travelling with gorgeous gifts for a heavenly King – but even this little child, with his uneducated parents, could witness to them.

 

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here