Submit

We’ve talked about submission a couple of times here on this blog, but as it relates to the wise men of the Christmas account, we see a submission to the authority of God by a group of men who may or may not have been God-fearing people. They knew that something special had taken place when they first saw the star, but what would be the result of that knowledge?

The result was a search that lead them to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem where they found a young boy named Jesus and His parents living in a home there. They knew that this boy was someone special, although how special we may not really know. But one thing we do know is that when they were warned in a dream about not going back to Jerusalem, they submitted to that higher authority and went home another way. Was it a more convenient way? We don’t know. We don’t know for sure where they came from, except that it was somewhere east of Israel. We also know that they were learned men who knew what the star meant and then followed it to see what they might find. And what they found changed them.

Their submission is a call for us to submit to the authority that God has on our lives. We have been called to obey God in such a way as to follow His instructions no matter how crazy they may seem to us.

Joshua was the brand new leader of the nation of Israel, and God tells him that in order to defeat the city of Jericho, he must have all of the people march around the walls of the city once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times, then shout and the walls would collapse. If I had been Joshua, my response might have been, “Wait, what?” But Joshua had seen Moses’ faith in God and he trusted that God knew what was best. And what happened as a result of his obedience? Exactly what God told him would happen. They took the city of Jericho without lifting a finger. They walked right in, and won the victory.

Sometimes it’s hard to submit, but when we do, victory is just around the corner. So make the decision now that you will obey God no matter what He should ask you to do. It might seem crazy, but submission in those cases will always lead to our ultimate victory!

Keep on obeying and we’ll see you on Sunday!