We Came to
Bow
by Mark
Corbett
We
followed the star,
We
travelled so far,
Carrying
our treasures,
Forsaking
home pleasures,
One goal
filled each mind,
The Christ
we must find,
so that we
could bow to Him.
Jerusalem
was disturbed
By the
news they heard,
Their
scribes searched to see,
Where this
new King might be,
Herod’s
scheming and lying,
In
Bethlehem he’d cause crying,
all to
avoid bowing to Him.
To Bethlehem
we drew near,
The magical
star reappeared.
It led us straight
to the Child,
to a
setting so humble and mild.
Born to
save us from sin,
Our hearts
He did win,
as we
joyfully bowed to Him.
Today you
still must choose.
Many still
resist and refuse,
To bow to Christ
Jesus the Lord,
And submit
their will to His Word.
We hope you
will choose to kneel,
Then the
joy that we felt you will feel,
whenever
you bow to Him.
Commentary and thoughts on the poem I wrote:
This poem was inspired by the story of the wise men as recorded in
Matthew’s gospel. I pray you will be blessed by rereading Matthew’s wonderful
account below. I have marked in red the three
times that the issue of worshiping Jesus is mentioned. The Greek word
translated “worship” literally means to bow down before someone. The act of
bowing could indicate several things. In the case of Jesus, it indicated
submission to His authority as King as well as adoration and praise for His goodness,
love, and salvation.
CSB17 Matthew 2:1
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men
from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is he who has been born
king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its
rising and have come to worship him."
3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply
disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 So he assembled all the chief priests and
scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born.
5 "In Bethlehem of Judea," they told
him, "because this is what was written by the prophet:
6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a
ruler who will shepherd my people Israel."
7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men
and asked them the exact time the star appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go
and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him."
9 After hearing the king, they went on their
way. And there it was-- the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until
it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were
overwhelmed with joy.
11
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then
they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense,
and myrrh.
12 And being warned in a dream not to go back
to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
Sadly, the evil spirit that was at work in
Herod is still active in our world today. Satan has no hope whatsoever now of
directly harming Jesus. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, far above all
authority and power (Ephesians 1:21). However, there is another way that Satan
still seeks to harm Christ. Whenever any of His sheep suffer, Jesus suffers
(Acts 9:4). This morning I read a
news article that estimated one thousand Christians were slaughtered in
Nigeria this year by Islamic extremists. Around the world, our brothers and
sisters in Christ face discrimination, threats, prison, physical harm, loss of opportunity to work, and even death as a
result of being loyal to King Jesus.
Thankfully, Christmas reminds us that the
love of God and the joy of knowing Jesus provides the kind of light that no
darkness can extinguish. The light shone brightly that first Christmas even
though Joseph and Mary were forced to travel by the edict of an occupying force.
The lack of room in a more comfortable guest room which required Joseph, Mary,
and baby Jesus to share a living space with farm animals did not dim the star
at all. Not even an evil King plotting and attempting to murder their baby could stop
God’s plan. His star shone brightly far above all the evil, chaos, and
confusion in their world.
I pray that, like the wise men, you will
choose to bow to Jesus. I hope you will submit your will to His. May you
worship Him with joy because of the great salvation from our sins He provides. I
pray that His light will shine on you and through you in this dark world, just
as His star gave light to the first Christmas.
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
Some related blog posts and YouTube videos:
Blog posts with other poems I have written:
A Mother's Heart is Like Her Lord's
Lord, How could I not Believe in You?
Related to bowing and kneeling:
Related to Christmas:
A few of my many blog posts related to
persecution:
No comments:
Post a Comment