Swimming With Wise Men

The wise men saw a star in the east and then sought out the “Christ.” When they had found baby Jesus lying in a manger they immediately fell down and worshiped Him. (Matt 2:11) How fully they recognized Jesus as an upcoming authority figure we may never know, but wasn't it pretty clear how much they respected Jesus by how they acted towards Him: falling down before Him. They instantly submitted themselves to authority and were blessed because of it.

How much better would things fair for us if we “quickly” submitted to authority, instead of fighting against it. We buck, we bite, we run from, we ignore authority, always finding in the end that it crushes us or keeps us under such tension that life has become miserable. You may swim against a swift river all you wish but you will never find the progress you seek until you yield to the current.

It is like this with all scriptural commands. God never asks us to like them, many times He does not seek to explain them, He just orders us about as if He is in ultimate charge. What we will find out either quickly, or through a long slow process, is that He is absolutely in charge and not one of His commands can you break without it breaking you. They are the laws of the universe, they do not bend, we break.

To further this, God instituted authority among men, he gives it as a gift to men. Even though government is as flawed as the human race itself it is much better than if lawlessness ruled. In yielding to God we yield to governmental authority as well, except for where they transgress God's commands. A law abiding, God honoring, Christian pleasantly finds out that swimming with such a current ushers them quickly to the places they wished to go. We find out that the reason the commands were exact was because they were 100% for our good.

One last thing to notice, the magi searched for Someone worth worshiping, and upon finding Him they immediately bowed to Him. They did not wait to bow down to the ultimate authority, they sought it out and then bowed to it. So should we.