Last week we finished up our Grinch series as we also conlcuded 2008! We talked about "The Search" that 3 men went on to find Jesus. Here is that story:A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. Oh wait, wrong story! Scratch that, let’s start over!
After Jesus was born, there were some wise men that lived in a far away country. They watched the stars every night to see if they noticed anything different. One night a bright, new star appeared in the sky.
They knew it had special meaning and that it was a sign that a great king had been born. They wanted to take him gifts and worship him, so they decided to follow the star until they found him.
But this wasn’t just any ordinary road trip. They lived about 500 miles away, and they didn’t have a car to just hop in and drive there. Wise men were always important people to the King of the country they lived in… so the King probably sent some of his own army to travel with the wise men and keep them safe.
They travelled for a long time and finally arrived in Jerusalem. They asked everyone, “Where is the new King of the Jews? We have been following his star, because we want to worship him.”
King Herod heard about the questions that the Wise Men were asking and it worried him. Was some new king going to take away his throne? Could these Wise Men be talking about the Savior of the world?
King Herod called for the men who knew the most about the prophets and he asked them, “Do your books tell where the Savior will be born?”
They told him, “Yes, the prophet Micah said that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem.”
King Herod called for the Wise Men to come to his royal courts. He asked them when they had first seen this star. They told him, and then he asked them to go ahead and find the baby, then come back and tell him so that he could go and worship him, too!
Do you guys really think that King Herod wanted to go worship Baby Jesus? No, he didn’t because he was afraid that Jesus would take away his royal throne. As a matter of fact, King Herod wanted to do the opposite. He wanted to get rid of baby Jesus.
Well, the star led the Wise Men right to the house where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were staying. The men bowed down to Baby Jesus and gave him valuable gifts—of gold, frankincense, which is something that you light on fire and it smells sweet…and myrrh, which was an expensive perfume!
Then they had a dream where God warned them not to go back to King Herod. So they travelled another route home.
Can you imagine that, looking for something for two years and travelling over 500 miles on a camel’s back, to get it… talk about having a sore bottom!
God wants us to search and find Jesus! Not literally, he’s not hiding in your house somewhere and you have to go find him. But we have to know who he is, and that if we accept him into our hearts, then he can change us and be our Savior, so that we can get into heaven.
Bible reference: Matthew 2:1-12
Q's for the family:
1. Could you imagine looking for something for two years? What’s the longest you’ve ever had to look for something?
2. How can you search for Jesus?
3. Have you accepted Jesus into your heart?
If not, would like to accept him now?
If yes, how can you live your life differently from the people who don’t know Jesus yet?
[Challenge]
This week go home and read Matthew 2:1-12 with your mom or dad. Come back next week and tell me one way that you “go another route” or show others that you love Jesus by your actions.
