Principles of the Nativity: Wise Men Still Seek Him

So I have been thinking a lot about each person in the nativity and how each of the characters teach me lessons about who I want to be. Each member plays such a significant role in that miraculous night and I want to pay tribute to them all this month, starting with the wise men.

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There are so many things we can learn from the wise men and their journey to Christ. The wise men traveled for a long time by the guidance of the star that appeared at Jesus' birth. Assuming they began as soon as the star appeared it took them roughly two years to reach the Savior. Once they got to Christ they gave him three valueble and meaningful gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I find it also interesting that once they found Christ they "went back another way". This was because they were warned in a dream to avoid Herod. After that we don't really know what happened to them. But this small insert in the nativity story brings to mind three lessons we can learn from them.

1-We are all on a journey to find Christ. It may be a long and sometimes difficult journey, just I am sure the desert land these men had to travel through included hot days, sand storms, and the discomfort of camel travel. But, I am sure there were good times. I am sure they got to know each other and be there for each other many a time during their journey to find Christ, just as all of us can be. I am sure there were also some beautiful scenes, sunrises, sunsets, oasis, and other moments of peace and contentment. On our way to Christ we can find joy in the journey so long as we follow His star to find Him. Today we have the star of the gospel that will lead us directly to Christ; not nearby or close enough or in the general area, but exactly to Christ like no other thing can. May we follow this star and find joy in our own journey to Christ.

2-When they found Christ they gave him meaningful and expensive gifts. When we come to Christ do we give him gifts that mean something to Him? Are they gifts that show Him we understand who He is? Do we give gifts that take sacrafice and effort to give? Only gifts of this kind allow us to truly find Christ and let Him change ourselves to become more like Him through the Atonement. Gifts such as faith, repentance, baptism, temple worship, kindness to our family and fellowmen, the study of His words; these are gifts that allow Christ to change us and show Christ our love and knowledge of Him as the Savior of the World. This allows item three to occur in us.
3-When the wisemen left they "departed into their own country another way" (Matthew 2:12). When we find Christ, do we? Do we have spiritual experiences that touch our hearts and immediately go back to who we were before? Or do we act upon those moments, "go back another way", and strive to become more like Jesus our brother? Like Nephi and his brothers of old that saw an angel we all have a choice when we see the hand of God in our lives-act and become or go back to what was comfortable (1 Nephi 3:31-4:4). The latter is much easier, but if we seek to have true joy in our lives we must take the higher way. If we do so we will "go back another way". If not, we risk spiritually killing Christ out of our lives as the wisemen would have put Christ in danger had they gone back to Herod. Only when we choose to act when we find Christ do we leave our journey as a new creature on our path to truly become sons and daughters of God.