Overjoyed

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." Matthew 2:10

I would have loved to have been part of the entourage of the magi- the three wise men from afar. They traveled thousands of miles in search of The Messiah, not really knowing where they were going. They encountered an evil king who wanted to kill baby Jesus, and tried to fool them into telling him where the baby was. Of course they didn't give him what he wanted, but still. What we read in the Bible was that they saw the star guiding them to God's Son and they became overjoyed. Imagine that. Seeing the star that you know means that God is here on earth in human form. How amazing. I would imagine they wept tears of joy they were so overjoyed.

They had brought gifts from afar-gifts from the east where they were from.

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:11

I wonder. As they bowed before the Son of God, and presented their gifts, did the thought come upon them at all that their gifts were not adequate? They bowed before him and worshipped him, giving him their hearts as well as the treasures from their homelands. I bet these magi were wonderful men. I imagine that they were fun and jovial, yet serious when they wanted to be. I also bet that as they returned to their homelands, they carried a twinkle in their eyes for the rest of their lives after spending time with the Messiah.

Is it not the same way for us? We spend our lives looking for meaning, for a purpose, and then once we've found God and his precious son, Jesus, we gain a sparkle. A twinkle that wasn't there before. I'm so thankful that Jesus came to us to put that sparkle there. Life would be pretty dull and meaningless without it.