{"id":3528,"date":"2026-01-07T10:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=3528"},"modified":"2026-01-07T10:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T18:14:47","slug":"seeking-sharing-and-serving-the-savior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=3528","title":{"rendered":"Seeking, Sharing, and Serving the Savior"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Matthew 2:1-12)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate family members, sure. Grandparents and other extended family members, at their earliest convenience, perhaps depending on travel distance. Close friends, eventually. These are the types of guests you\u2019d naturally expect relatively soon after the birth of your child. There would be nothing out of the ordinary about those closest to you – who care about your family and have been kept in the loop throughout your pregnancy – visiting that soon after the birth of your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it would be weird if random strangers with gifts showed up at your door. If you somehow found out that they were asking around about you and where to find you, that would increase the cringe factor significantly. And, if you knew the long distance they traveled just to see your child, that would make it even more awkward. No prior existing relationship with anyone in the family – just there to see the kid. Weird indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jesus was not just another baby. We can appreciate the details Matthew shares, emphasizing that the child the Magi were seeking was no ordinary child. He tells us his name – Jesus – the name Joseph had been commanded to give to the One who would save people from their sins. There was only One to whom that name could be given. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wisemen from the east also refer to him as \u201cking of the Jews,\u201d a title not just anyone could claim. Then they tell Herod they saw \u201chis\u201d star, not just a <\/em>star or even the <\/em>star, but his <\/em>star. Who is worthy of having his own star??? And they explain that they aren\u2019t there just to pay him a visit, but \u201cto worship him\u201d (v.2). <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Matthew, never one to miss the opportunity to connect the prophetic dots for us, details how the chief priests and teachers of the law discovered the prophet Micah\u2019s revelation that the birthplace would be Bethlehem. Finally, they didn\u2019t just make a quick stop at the Dollar Tree or some gas station convenience store to pick up a last-minute gift, but brought along with them their very best gifts. No, in light of who this Child was, there was nothing odd at all about strangers from the east paying him a visit. In fact, in light of who Jesus was, we might be surprised that he didn’t welcome even more visitors! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as the Magi receive a lot of the attention on the Epiphany, what really stands out is that they aren\u2019t the only ones searching for Jesus; everyone is! Everyone is seeking Jesus – the magi, Herod, the chief priests and teachers of the law – they\u2019re all seeking Jesus. And in a sense, they represent the general types of people still seeking Jesus today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, there is no shortage of Herod-type skeptics. Matthew reveals Herod\u2019s true colors upon first hearing the news about Jesus: \u201cWhen King Herod heard this he was disturbed\u201d (v.3).<\/em><\/strong> Herod was not interested in a king to replace him, let alone a Savior. Neither are those who follow in Herod’s footsteps today. They aren\u2019t seeking Jesus out of a need or desire to confirm that he is their Savior. Rather, they are seeking to discredit and undermine him. Any attempts at highlighting all of the ways Scripture reveals Jesus as the Savior for such skeptics are often met with frustration. That’s because for Herod-types, Scripture is viewed not as the divinely inspired Word of God, but as a book filled with holes and contradictions that is to be disproven and discredited. They seek Jesus not to trust him, but to troll him – and all believers who follow him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhat similar to the skeptics are those who might fall into the category of scholars. When Herod had called the religious scholars of his day together, \u201che asked them where the Messiah was to be born.\u00a0\u2018In Bethlehem in Judea,\u2019 they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written: \u201c\u2018But you, Bethlehem, 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 shepherd my people Israel\u2019\u201d (v.4-6).<\/em><\/strong> They were searching for Jesus, but not because they were looking for their Savior. It was their job. They were the academics, the scholars.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of these types today. They have the Bible right under their nose, but it is nothing more than a textbook. It is a writing of men to be studied and dissected by men, stripped of the supernatural and divine, leaving whatever relative, subjective meaning one may find. But their degrees and PhDs blind them to the reality of a Savior. They\u2019re too smart for their own good to see any place for humbly being open to the possibility that the Bible or the God in it could in any way offer them something they could not come by or figure out on their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third type of seekers are the magi-types. They are genuinely curious. They sense there are limitations to their own understanding of the world around them and are searching for answers. They haven\u2019t been successful in addressing the innate awareness of their own lack of goodness. They are aware of their inability to remedy the guilt and shame of their wrongdoing. They are open to the idea of religion and God, even quite convinced of their place, but aren\u2019t sure where to begin looking or how to determine which is the right path when there are so many. So they are looking. They are seeking. They have some of the pieces of the puzzle, as the Magi did, but are still exploring.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these three types, regardless of the motivation for their seeking, all have the same thing in common: they all need<\/em> the Savior. We <\/em>all need<\/em> the Savior. For that reason, we never stop seeking him. We are always searching to know him better, to deepen our faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right? If not, when we stop seeking the Savior, that is when we start suffocating our faith. The child of God who insists on or is content to remain just <\/em>a child of God. If he is not interested in maturing and growing in faith and understanding, he is leaving the door open to allowing his heavenly citizenship to expire permanently. So it isn\u2019t just unbelievers, but also those who already belong to Jesus, who need to keep seeking him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because everyone needs the Savior, it is necessary that we share him with others. While we don’t know all of the details, at some point, the news about Jesus was shared with the Magi. They may have come to learn of the God of the Bible from men like Daniel while the Jewish people were taken to Babylon.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love <\/em>hearing stories about God’s people sharing their Savior. Some of you are very comfortable discussing the basics of salvation and Christianity with others. Some of you are amazing at sharing what you love about what Jesus is doing through your church and school, eagerly inviting others to be a part of it. For others, it\u2019s more challenging, but you are patiently playing the long game with family or friends, dripping Jesus here and there over time, still sharing him in that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, if we don\u2019t ever share Jesus, then we\u2019re showing something else: that we don\u2019t really think too much of him. If the thought of sharing him never enters into my conversations, if it never crosses my mind, if the name of Jesus rarely leaves my lips except occasionally when I\u2019m in church, what conclusion would an unbeliever draw about how important Jesus is to you? Seeking Jesus and sharing Jesus are not optional add-ons to the Christian faith; they are evidence of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeking and sharing don\u2019t just stop there. Eventually, as God chooses to work through those efforts and bring others to faith or strengthen our faith, it leads to serving. Listen to Matthew describe how the Magi planned to serve their Savior with their gifts in verse 11: \u201cThen they opened their [leftovers] and presented him with gifts of [crumbs from the bottom of the chip bag, some pocket change, and the doggie bag from their last meal at the restaurant].\u201d Wait, that\u2019s not right. It was gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Magi served their Savior with their best gifts, not their leftovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does he get from us? Firstfruits or leftovers? Some of us spend more on coffee than we do on Christ. Some went all of 2025 without once thinking about how they serve Jesus with their financial gifts and haven\u2019t considered what their giving will look like in this new year. Some convince themselves that their serving or volunteering is somehow in place of regular offerings, as if God\u2019s grace to us doesn\u2019t warrant service through offerings and volunteering. Some will always leave the work of ministry to others, ignoring that the very definition of ministry is service. Some will spend the better part of their Christian lives content to serve Jesus with leftovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But thankfully, that sad reality is not reflective of God\u2019s love for us. Christmas reminds us of that. It wasn\u2019t just the magi who gave their best gifts; so did God. He gave us Jesus. He gave us his absolute best. And Jesus came to do all of the things we\u2019re called to do, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus came to seek, to share, to serve. He came to seek the lost. He came to share his heavenly inheritance and all that accompanies it with us. He came to serve us. And he did all of this perfectly, without fail or flaw. And in doing so, he did much more than just set the perfect example for us to follow; he provided the very perfection we needed to be right with God. He also paid the price we couldn\u2019t by his sacrifice on the cross. Jesus came to seek, to share, and to serve, and through all of this, he came to save us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What prompts us to imitate Jesus through the first three: seeking, sharing, and serving? It’s that we can\u2019t do the fourth – saving; only he can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he did. We don\u2019t have to save ourselves (not that we could!); he came to do that for us. The same Savior who welcomed the visitors from the east will welcome us into his eternal presence as well. Until then, how will you maximize your remaining time here on earth seeking, sharing, and serving the Savior, in 2026 and beyond?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Matthew 2:1-12) Immediate family members, sure. Grandparents and other extended family members, at their earliest convenience, perhaps depending on travel distance. Close friends, eventually. These are the types of guests you\u2019d naturally expect relatively soon after the birth of your child. There would be nothing out of the ordinary about those closest to you –… Continue reading Seeking, Sharing, and Serving the Savior<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1284,65],"tags":[4,41,11,53,355,5,109,319,935,106,1278,36,1198,1283,108,94,336],"class_list":["post-3528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-identity-revealed-series","category-sermons","tag-christmas","tag-epiphany","tag-faith","tag-grace","tag-guys","tag-jesus","tag-preaching","tag-save","tag-saving","tag-savior","tag-seeking","tag-sermon","tag-serving","tag-sharing","tag-teaching","tag-word","tag-worship"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-UU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3528"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3543,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions\/3543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}