As a family we finally decided to go ahead and set up some of our decorations, so I took the kids with me and we dug out a box of nativity sets that my mother-in-law had given us last year.
We brought them home and began unwrapping the tissue paper that each piece had been carefully stored in and started to assemble the different nativities. It took us a minute to separate each set from the others, and when we were finished I realized that there were a couple of odd pieces that didn't match any of the others. It was then I remembered that I had given her an incomplete set I found on my mission.
Incomplete is probably too generous a word, the set was all but gone! It consisted of two pieces, namely the Baby Jesus and a Wise Man. As we set up the nativities on top of the piano, the thought struck me at the significance of this odd set. Of all the pieces to survive it was a wise man and the Savior.
Mary and Joseph were important and the angels and shepherds played their part, but in today's commercial society it is the wise men (and women) who continue to seek the Savior. Even when all else is lost, even when their situation is less than ideal they are the ones who continue to seek Him. Isn't that really what it is all about? Each of us individually choosing to swallow our pride and political affiliations to seek the Savior?
If you think about it carefully the journey of the wise men makes absolutely no sense. They were wealthy men who lived a comfortable life nowhere near Jerusalem, and yet they still chose to make the arduous journey through various lands and countries with their entourage to find the lowly babe.
How many of us today would be willing to make that same commitment of time, energy, and money just to find a little infant residing in humble circumstances? How many of us are willing to set aside our idyllic lives filled with smartphones, tablets, and streaming entertainment to find the simple ways taught by the man called Jesus?
Perhaps I am making too much of an incomplete nativity, but as I set these pieces alongside the complete sets on the piano I felt a deep stirring in my soul and felt impressed to share my feelings with those of you willing to listen. I want to hear your thoughts and feelings about this, please share in the comments below.
