A Christmas Message : Destiny

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE : DESTINY

Matthew 2
v.1 After Jesus was born in Bethelhem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
v.2 and asked "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him"
v.3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

v.4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

v.5 "In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied "for this is what the prophet has written:

v.6'But you, Bethelhem in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Isreal'

v. 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

v.8 He sent them to Bethelhem and said "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me , so that I too may go and worship him"

v.9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

v.10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

v.11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worship him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

v.12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Luke 2

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord.

12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,

18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

24-12-2009

On a Thursday afternoon everyone was in front the christmas tree set up at the entrance of the office, exchanging presents to one another, some of the presents have been sitting under that tree for a month. Smiling faces and memorable response we all experience individually everytime when someone opens a present.

Its a tradition for us to gather around the christmas tree at the office entrance exchanging gifts in regardless of what race or where we come from.

I will always remember moments like this in the office every year and thank God for showing so much love within the four corners of the office walls. A christmas message was shared on that day, with the one theme I shall remember :Destiny.I have been reading the story of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ even on days when it is not christmas season. The facts of the story mention in the two gospels Luke and Matthew is always clear in my mind. But every sharing and/or reading is always fresh/new just like fresh bread baked from the oven.

Based on the two chapters above I have read, apart of noticing that didnt Luke mention of the magi(s) looking for Jesus and Matthew didn't mention about the shepherds looking for Jesus. We notice that there are two groups of people that went to find baby Jesus. The shepherds and the Magi(s) (aka the wiseman).

The Magi(s) from the east were looking for Jesus, heck they even came all the way from the east, geographically I did not do the research to know how far or how long it will take them to arrive Bethlehem but I do know for sure that it is a long time and to come at such a timing requires much studying from the Magi(s) through the written books of the prophets to ensure that they are there at the right time. They probably have know about this birth a long time in their days in school as a scholar as it is written by the prophets long before the birth of Jesus. This Magi(s) must have been real excited because they believe that it is their generation that they will get to see the Messiah, as what the prophets have all talked about. I think generations and generations of Magi have always been on a look out for that 'Star' and/or 'Sign' to know where the Messiah would be born. This Magi(s) want to ensure that they will see the Messiah. They want to make sure that they got all the signs right or even looked for any sign so that they may meet the Messiah. God has destined for them to meet the baby Jesus. It was their destiny! and they worked hard and searched all around looking for that 'star'. The Star was so visible that it could be seen by the Magi(s) in the east! What a wonderful 'sign' God have given them to reach their destination.

The other group of people mention in the book of Luke, where the shepherds. I'm not too sure of the social status of shepherds during those days but I do know that they aren't really great people, probably people who aren't looked highly by the society. This shepherds weren't educated well and I'm quite sure they weren't scholars of the word. Just humble individuals just carrying out their duty that is shepherding the sheeps. But behold, an angel appeared before them! Telling them the Good news of the birth of Jesus and where they could find him. The shepherds, weren't people who were looking for any 'signs' or stars like the Magi(s) did earlier, I was of the opinion also maybe they probably did not know that they would be able to see the Jesus in the manger in their lifetime.

Both of these two groups of people found Jesus in Bethlehem just as the two gospels said. Both groups of people reach their destination, or shall I say fullfilled their destiny of seeing Jesus in Bethelhem. The Magi(s) spent their whole life to finally reached their destiny where else the shepherds had destiny coming to them and they followed. Two different groups of people, the very persistent scholars and the humble shepherds.

All of us have destiny to fullfill in life. Our life is carefully planned by the Almighty so that we may fullfill that destiny we have on earth/ on this world.

Some of us think that we don't have a destiny nor are we even looking for a destiny, maybe we just want to carry on with life with no destiny in thought. Some of us have a destiny and have been trying hard over and over again trying to reach it but have brought just so much dissapointment(s).

This two gospel that spoke of the birth of Jesus Christ have tremendously bless me and gave me so much hope in my soul. It reminds me that I HAVE A DESTINY! whether if I'm looking for it or whether I have been trying so hard in vain to reach that destiny. If I'm persistent I will find it (just like the Magi(s) and even the times when I didn't even think about it, God shall show it to me (just like the shepherds). So often I hear people saying that you have to 'work' for your destiny but after reading this gospel, i realised that sometimes destiny does not come by our works, it comes as it is destined for you through God's mercy and purpose.

Thank You God for your word, for your beautiful Word that speaks so direct to my heart always. Thank You Jesus for coming to this world and showing me my Destiny. May my life's destiny be fullfilled according to your will.

I pray that you (the reader) may reached your destiny. God loves you and has a plan for you in regardless if you are a "shepherd or a magi".