Following the fourth Wiseman- the upper room

April 17, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Our traveler is making his way through the dark and deserted streets of a night where both men and women were afraid of what might come. The Roman’s were searching, convinced someone had stolen the body of the Messiah from the tomb. There was a strict curfew and the deciples were being hunted for questioning. Our traveler is careful to dodge all light from the torches in the city walls as he walks. Suddenly a man bumps into him. They look at each other in fear. Then they realize that they are in safe company. Our traveler recognizes the man as one of the Messiah’s followers. The other man invites him to join him, he is going to meet the other deciples in an upper room. Our traveler happily agrees. When they arrive the room is in a buzz as the deciples discuss excitedly an event that had just taken place.

John 20:19-23 ESV
[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Our traveler is amazed he has so many questions, but to his shock the man with him denies what the others have said. He will not believe unless he sees it with his own eyes. Our traveler places a hand on the man’s shoulder. He had been the exact same before his time spying on the tomb in the garden. The hurt from what he had seen had made him doubtful, this man felt it too. By the looks on the faces of the others, our traveler can see that they too had veen skeptical at one time. But now that they had seen Him they could never doubt again.

When we have had a horrible situation it is easy to doubt that anything good can come from it. Even when we see something similar arise it’s easy to fear because of the past. We have been Thomas. Standing in the upper room full for grief, thinking the pain of loss has driven his friends crazy. Then Jesus appears and puts all the doubts to shame. Jesus is with us in the bad times and the good. We cannot cling to old pain, we must last it go and focus on what Jesus is doing now. He is always working something new, for our good.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- I will raise this temple again in three days.

April 13, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Our traveler sees the soldiers bring down the bodies from the crosses. A man comes whom our traveler does not know, and the man has his servants carry the body of the Messiah away. Our traveler sees the man Nicodemus follow and quietly goes to join him. The man looks at him.
“What is that in your hands?”
Our traveler looks down at the cloth. Something he had once thought was of great worth, “a gift, for Him.”
Nicodemus touches our traveler’s shoulder and they walk together to where the Messiah would be laid.

John 19:38-42 ESV
[38] After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. [39] Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. [40] So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. [41] Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. [42] So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Nicodemus looks at our traveler once again. “Did you hear what He said? Before the earth shook?”
Our traveler shakes his head.
“He said, ‘Father forgive them.’ He asked for God’s forgiveness for us despite all that pain.”
Our traveler feels his heart tearing apart inside him. “It is kind. We are all to blame.”
“If we believe the prophecies. Then yes.”
“Did you know this would happen?”
“No. But now that it has, the words of the prophets return to my mind, and I feel like I understand a little.”
“Then you are better off than I am. For I understand nothing.”
“Perhaps that is why we met. So when thos day came, I could be here with you. He said something strange.”
Our traveler laughs, “everything He said was strange. Yet, so true.”
“Yes but. Now I recall hearing that he had said if we destroyed the temple He would raise it again.”
“Yes, in three days. It made some of the… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It made some of us religious leaders angry. But now I wonder at what He meant?”
“Why now?”
“I’m not sure. It just seems to be important somehow. Now more than ever.”

Sometimes God will bring someone you never expected into your life to help you through the worst times. Sometimes it’s someone you don’t like. Sometimes it’s someone you don’t know. Sometimes it’s a friend or relative. It is always amazing to see how God uses people in our moments of Sometimes. The saddest part of the cross was that Jesus was alone. He died alone. Yes, there were people who loved Him near by, but God turned His face from Him. No matter how surrounded by friend we are, without God we are truly alone. In the same light, it does not matter how alone we are, with God we are never alone.
Jesus was buried for three days. He fought the devil, took the keys and freed those lost to death. For three days He was in a battle and on the third He left the grave victorious. We can also leave the grave in victory, if we choose to die to our old selves and to live with Christ.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- It is finished

April 12, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Our traveler is confused and angry. He does not understand. He looks around and can find no one to speak to who could stop what was happening. All those who stood around were laughing and taunting. In the distance our traveler can make out a figure of great power, the man whom had told him of his meeting on the rooftop with the Messiah, Nicodemus. Yet, when he begins to walk toward him oir traveler sees that the man no longer looks like one of power. He looks tired and worn. His eyes turn on our traveler and he shakes his head. There is nothing he can do. In desperation our traveler runs toward the cross. Determined that he will tear the horrible thing from the ground with his bare hands and save his King himself. But as he draws near he sees that there is nothing he can do. Now, there is nothing anyone can do.

John 19:28-37 ESV
[28] After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” [29] A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. [30] When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [31] Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. [32] So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. [33] But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. [34] But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. [35] He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. [36] For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” [37] And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
The ground shakes and our traveler falls to his knees in the blood and mud around the cross. He takes the gift from his bag. The one he would have given to the Messiah all those years ago, if only he had made it in time. He holds it up.
“This my King…. this is for you. It is the finest linen from my part of this world. There is no linen softer, or made with a finer weave. It should have wrapped you as a child. Now I will give it to those who mourn you, and it can wrap your body for burial. I don’t understand. But as the man says. You must know what you are doing, even in this.”

It seems our traveler is always too late. Like he is forevermore missing his chance. Yet he has anyways been where he was meant to be. We often feel like we have missed our shot. Like we should have been someone else, somewhere else. Like the path we are on is one we would never have chosen for ourselves. Just because we don’t understand does not mean we have gone the wrong way. The path God chooses often feels wrong to us, that’s because the world gives us their opinion on what our lives should look like. Their ideas are not God’s, they could never begin to understand God’s path and will. Just because it feels like we are always too late does not mean we are late at all, it means God is holding us back for something else He has planned. It may not be something greater. Just different. Trust Him and His timing. He knows what He’s doing, even in this.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- How dirty are my feet?

April 8, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

We pick up again with our traveler as he bends to lift his foot to a cloth. He has walked so long that upon entering the house he would stay in for the night, the owner insisted he wash his feet twice. Our traveler smiled. He had heard and odd story about the Messiah. It had been told to him by a young woman who had brought bread and drink up to a gathering of people who were at her master’s house for the night.

John 13:1-10 ESV
[1] Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. [2] During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, [3] Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, [4] rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. [5] Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. [6] He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” [7] Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” [8] Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” [9] Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” [10] Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

Our traveler wondered at what the Messiah had said. “Why were not everyone of them clean? Who was still dirty?” Our traveler finished drying his feet and went to his room. “Does it mean something specific that the Messiah said this?”
Our traveler blew out his candle and went to sleep.

You and I know that Jesus was speaking of Judas when he said not all of you are clean. I read something a few years ago that I have never forgotten.
“Jesus washed the feet of His betrayer.” I think it was Max Lucado who had done a sermon on this. However it was the first time I had thought of it. Jesus washed the feet of the man who would sell Him out, and He knew it. He knew Judas would betray Him and yet He washed His feet anyway.
Jesus knows who will betray Him. He knows who will walk away and stop loving Him. Yet He died for them anyways. For every person who said, “there is no God.” For every man who shouted, “I don’t need anyone but me!” For the girl who said, “I am the queen of my life and no one else.” For every person who walked away from Jesus and sought their own life a life without Him, a life not even half full, Jesus died for them. He washed their feet too. The brokenness of this world does not surprise Jesus, but it makes Him sad. We can hate Him and betray Him and He still loves us enough to wash our feet. If your feet are going to be dirty, let them be dirty from the dust of the road as you follow the Messiah.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- A false palm branch

April 6, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

We find our traveler once again being pushed and jostled by a crowd. He had heard people shouting, “Hosanna!” and knew in his heart that it had been because of the Messiah. Our traveler followed the voices and now he found himself in the midst of a crowd standing near the gate to Jerusalem. A woman bumps into him and looking at his hands she says,
“You do not have a palm leaf to lay down. Here, take one of mine.” She hands him a green branch and head on her way.
Our traveler looks with interest at the branch. Then he notices that people are waving the branches and placing them on the road. Our traveler rushes to the front of the crowd and adds his branch to the others just as the shiny young hooves of a donkey colt step past him. He looks up, “blessed….” he begins to say and then stops. The eyes that rest upon him are red with tears, but the face still smiled at him. The moment so enveloped him that our traveler forgot why he was there. He had been within speaking distance of the Messiah whom he had sought after for some 30 or so years, and he had been so sad at the pain in His eyes that he had forgotten to speak. To give his gift. To say “may you be blessed.” The moment had passed and the chance was gone.
“I did say blessed, I suppose that’s something.” Our traveler says to himself as He walks away.
Later he recalled all he had seen and had heard of the day.

John 12:12-16 ESV
[12] The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. [13] So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” [14] And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, [15] “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” [16] His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
We always see the triumphant entry as a happy moment. I mean, it literally called triumphant. Yet, it was a sad moment for Jesus. He had so badly wanted to see the people of Jerusalem change. He had wanted to love them. Yet they doubted Him. He rode in to cheers of the crowd, yet He knew their hearts were still cold. He fulfilled the prophecy. Yet it broke His heart. Hosanna. Save us we pray. How often do people shout Hosanna. Shout, save us. And don’t actually want to be saved. Save us, but let us stay how we are. Save us, but don’t change us or our lives. Save us, but leave us here to stay cold and dead inside. The people shouted Hosanna and then only a little while later shouted, crucify Him. How many false palm branches have we laid? How often have we shouted to be saved and not actually mean it?
Jesus came to save us in a very specific way. He did not overthrow the government. He did not kill the enemies of His people. He did not restore the earthly kingdoms. He came to save us from ourselves. To save us from our sins. Hosanna. Save us from the devil Jesus. Save us from falling into hopelessness. Save us from us.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- The rarest of perfume

April 5, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

The strong fragrance of the perfume wafted from the booths as our traveler passed by. The scent was so strong it blotted out everything else. On a table he saw a beautifully handcrafted bottle and lifted the dropper. The scent was lovely.
The seller smiled at our traveler. “Do you like it? It is one of our rarest and most expensive blends.”
Our traveler nodded, “I have never met it’s equal. At its price though, in this area, you nust not sell many bottles.”
“That’s what you think.” The seller snorted, “Why, just the other day a young woman came and bought an entire bottle, just to wash a man’s feet.”
Our traveler was instantly interested, “a man’s feet you say? Do you know who?”
“Buy a bottle and I may tell you.” The seller countered.
“A small one then. Please, tell me what you know.”

John 12:1-8 ESV
[1] Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. [2] So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. [3] Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. [4] But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, [5] “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” [6] He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. [7] Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. [8] For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
The seller wrapped the perfume and handed it to our traveler. “It’s an odd tale isn’t it?” She asked as our traveler paid her.
“It would be, if I did not know the man for which this was done. I worry about what it might mean.”
“I doubt it means anything. The wealthy have odd tastes of amusement.”
“Perhaps.” Our traveler stated and walked away.

You and I know the significance of Mary washing Jesus’s feet with the perfume. She was symbolically preparing His body for His death to come. However, imagine being a person living nearby at the time. It would sound the eccentric act of a wealthy group of friends. Judas would certainly not have been the only one who scoffed at this. Yet Mary, who chose to listen at the feet of the Savior, and learn all He had to teach, somehow in her heart she knew something was going to happen and she chose to forsake her money, Enough for a man’s wages for a full year, and to wash the feet of her Savior with her hair. It was a gesture of full humility and love, and we can tell from what Jesus said that He was moved by her actions.
What are we willing to pour out at the feet of Jesus? Dreams? Desires? Needs? Wants? Hopes? Security? What is worth an entire year’s wages to us, that we are willing to pour out on the feet of Jesus?
The best part of it is that when we pour out our silly earthly trinkets, Jesus blesses us with His gifts. His gifts of peace and joy. These thing will only bring us pleasure for a day. Jesus will bring us hope for eternity.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- dead man called by name

April 4, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Our traveler shivers as he stands at the door to the tomb. He looks in. Empty. Just as he had been told. He had heard that his Messiah had raised a man from the dead, but despite the prophecies, it was hard for him to believe. Yet, there it was, and empty tomb. This should have caused great joy among the people, and some were very happy, but others were angry and it worried our traveler.

” Who am I to worry?
What can they do to a man who can raise the dead?” Our traveler said to himself.

John 11:43-44 ESV
[43] When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The death and resurrection of Lazarus is something that we all know, but we don’t always realize the significance behind it as a sign, one of the Main signs that nobody could fake. A sign that would prove that Jesus was the Christ was the raising of the dead, it had been prophesied that this would come to pass. The pharisees and the sadducees were trying to defame Jesus and claim that his miracles weren’t real and then all of a sudden, He raises the dead.
That was something they couldn’t argue with or disprove, it trrified them and made them very angry.
We have something in common with Lazarus. We too are people that Jesus loves and weeps over when we go astray.
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, just as how Jesus raises us From the death of pur sins. He calls out our names, and then has us unbound, from our garments of the dead and braces us as we walk stumbling Into the daylight of the living. We have all been dead at one time. Maybe you still feel dead. Walk out to join the living. Go to Jesus when He calls you. He is ready to show you the light once again.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- The writing in the sand

April 1, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Our traveler is weary. He has walked so many days and sene and heard so many things that his brain can no longer comprehend. It has been so much study, so much wonder that he almost needs a rest. He stops walking, in front of him, sitting on the ground, is a woman. She looks up at him, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Did you hear Him?” She asks.
“Hear who?” Our traveler replies.
“The teacher.” She runs her hand across etching in the sand.
Our traveler stands straight and looks around. The Messiah had been there. He must have just missed Him.
“What did He say?” Our traveler asks.
“Let me tell you.” The woman answers.

John 8:3-11 ESV
[3] The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst [4] they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. [5] Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” [6] This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. [7] And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” [8] And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. [9] But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. [10] Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” [11] She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]
Our traveler reaches down and throws aside every custom He knows. He takes the woman by the hand and lifts her to her feet. He gives her his hankerchief. She takes his hand nervously.
“I know what I am in the eyes of the people, and I do not say they are wrong, but….He, He gave me a chance to change. Who does that?”
Our traveler pats her hand like a dad patting the hand of a nervous child, “The Messiah does that.”
He smiles and walks away.

The writing in the sand. The woman whom no one could throw a stone at. Jesus. We all recall the account of one of Jesus’s most famous lines. “Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.” Yet that is always where we stop. We don’t know what Jesus wrote. It’s frustrating that the deciples did not think to record it. What we know is that Jesus saw a woman who had sinned and was about to be killed. No chance for redemption. Yet, He offered her forgiveness and a second chance. This shows the difference between the law before Jesus came and the law after. Because much of the law is still relevant. However, before Christ law, said that this was sin and she was to be punished by death. After Christ law, said that she had sinned and was to be given an opportunity through the blood of Jesus to be forgiven. She had a chance to try again and this time to do better. Jesus said He did not condemn her and that she was to go and sin no more. Did she? We don’t know. She might have gone and went back to her old sinful life and then died without hope. Or she might have changed her life completely and become the woman God had meant her to be and then died with the promise of eternal life through Jesus’s forgiveness. Where she went after her meeting with Jesus we will never know. What we know is that Jesus saw someone who was broken by sin and He have her a chance to change. Just like He gives each of us a chance to change. He does not condone our sin, He gives us a chance to stop sinning and to become all we can be through Him.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- When the sea is stormy and the Messiah is walking on the waves

March 30, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

As he stood on the boat, following the disciples across the sea to the far shore, our traveler felt a gust of wind blow hard in his face. He looked up the sky. He was not a seafarer, yet after so many years of travel he could feel in his skin when a storm was coming. The wind began to grow. He looked at the other boats who had chosen to follow the disciples across the water. Some of them were turning back, others were strapping their gear down. This was going to be a bad one. Our traveler felt his heart sink a little as the captain of his boat began to turn the boat around and head back to shore. The waves began to grow and our traveler quickly strapped himself to a tether line. He looked back as a crack of lighting filled the sky with light. The disciples had not turned back. He was filled with concern as he saw the deeper water their boat was in begin to surge and throw them. He turned,
“Father! Your people are going to drown!” Our traveler shouted out as another wave hit his own boat and threw him to his knees. He clawed his way back up to the side of the boat where he could watch the disciples. Another crack of lightning. He shuddered. A figure had passed by on the waves. He was so close he could reach out and touch Him. The figure looked and smiled at our traveler as he went by. Our traveler gasped. It was Him.
“Messiah! Wait!” Our traveler screamed but his voice was lost in the wind. In desperation he called again. “REMEMBER ME!!”
He watched as his Messiah walked on the waves to His disciples. If only he had the courage to leave the boat and chase after Him. If only.

John 6:16-21 ESV
[16] When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, [17] got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [18] The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. [19] When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. [20] But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” [21] Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
There will be times when we go ahead without Jesus and we lose sight of Him. The storms then come and we become afraid. Where is He in those storms? Walking across the waves toward you. Even when you walk away from Him, He is walking after you. Just because you left Him does not mean He has left you. He will chase you over the waves and will guide you safely to the shore.

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Following the fourth Wiseman- A speck in the crowd

March 29, 2025 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

The word had hit the streets two days before. The man called Jesus was teaching on the hillside. Our traveler had been jostled and bumped through the crowds for hours. He was no longer the only one seeking the Messiah and it was almost a fight to even reach His destination.
Exhausted, dirty, and bruised our traveler finally reaches the hill where Jesus was speaking. He was joyful and discouraged to see that there were so many people he could not even count them all. There was no way he would reach the Messiah at this point. He was a speck in the crowd. Our traveler decided to sit down with the others and listen to what his King was saying. As time went on he began to feel hungry. He looked around and realized that he was not the only one. Then there was a shifting in the crowd, the deciples of Jesus were walking through, speaking to people. Next he saw a small boy stand and walk with the deciples toward Jesus. Later he learned what had happened.

John 6:1-13 ESV
[1] After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. [2] And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. [3] Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. [4] Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. [5] Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” [6] He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. [7] Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” [8] One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, [9] “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” [10] Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. [11] Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. [12] And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” [13] So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

Our traveler sat with food in his hands that could only have been a gift from God. He wondered at it. He wondered at how he had been so blessed as to see these things and to hear the words of his King. The others had seen the child, the other Wisemen had given their gifts and had blessed Him and been blessed by His presence. Yet he, the one whom he had thought had missed out, was now seeing the miracles of the man who was God.

So often we feel we have missed our chance. Imagine always being so close to your desire and never reaching it? We leave our traveler in a crowd where he would be like a where’s Waldo picture, such a small part of something so big. Yet, even when we feel like we are just a spring inside the massive clock of life, Jesus still sees us. He still offers us His love. We can feel like we have missed our moment. Like God could not use us because we have fallen too far behind. But He has a purpose. We are never too far gone. He is always with us and someday we will see His reason.