On coming to the house, [the Magi] saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
“God invites the Magi and He invites you to see His Son and to joyfully offer your life as a worshiper…Worship involves joyful, affectionate, uninhibited praise. Like these powerful influential [Magi] in Matthew 2, we should be overwhelmed, bowing down in homage and humble worship.
We give to Christ the extravagant offering of our lives, everything we have and everything we are. We lay it down before Jesus and we do it joyfully. He is the King [symbolized by the gift of gold], and we see his royalty, His deity [depicted in the gift of frankincense] and His humanity [celebrated with gift of myrrh], we’re compelled to shout and sing about His great worth.
After God sends the Christ, then He sends the church…At the beginning of Matthew the message to the nations is clearly to come and see the King. And at the end of Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples to go and spread the kingdom to the nations. More specifically, “Go…and make disciples of all nations” (28:19).” Joyfully offer your life as a worshiper, and then passionately spend your life as a witness.”
David Platt in Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2013).
Platt aptly sums up the response for the reader of today’s Gospel text: “joyfully offer your life as a worshiper and then passionately spend your life as a witness.”
Practically speaking, the aim of Advent is to experience the Messiah so that we live differently in the new year as His messengers. Our worship transforms our witness.
As a result of your worship of Christ this Advent, what is one thing that will change in the way you spend your life as a witness in the new year?