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Part of Jesus’ Birth series in our weekly evos. This week is from Matthew 2:1-12

Ever wanted something so bad that it rearranged your life? It totally consumed you? Like standing in line for a Wii? An iPhone? What about wasting two days online for World Series tickets or maybe to see the Police in concert? While we are confessing such obsessions, I’ve seen every Star Wars movie on opening day – even as a child. As an adult – I went to every “new” Star Wars movie at midnight. I even called my buddy Wayne at 2 am to talk about it – I was in Nashville and he was in Little Rock. Sundays are church in the morning, football in the afternoon. It’s just the way we roll. I don’t even think about it.

Isn’t it a hassle – rearranging your life like that? Not if you love the Broncos and going to church. I look at families who spend every Saturday morning on a soccer field from age 5 to 18 and think – “My God, what did they do to deserve that kind of punishment?” But when you talk to those parents – they love it. It consumes them. It’s not a “rearrangement of their life,” it rather gives their life direction. (I will refrain from commenting on what I think the quality of that kind of life is…)

So back to the original question – ever been that obsessed with something? Something that mattered? Something that really mattered…that generations of your family had been waiting for? Ever been that focused on something that you and some friends would travel thousands of miles to go after?

That’s the Magi. Almost 500 years before this, their ancestors first heard about the One from exiled Jews – the latest prize of their Babylonian king. Then one of “them Jews” got famous. He was a dream interpreter. He stared into the faces of kings and lions without flinching. Daniel became a city ruler, a sage that 4 different kings would call on in times of trouble. Could these Magi been both astrologers and scholars? Could these men be the result of over 500 years of waiting?

Were their lives that boring or were they that consumed? Did they not have anything else better to do or was this worth a lifetime of pursuit? Were they shocked to learn that the scholars who knew best were the One would come couldn’t make a day trip down to Bethlehem to check him out? It’s obvious that the Magi knew what they were doing. Their gifts tell all of their insight. Gold for the King of Kings. Frankincense for the Priest that will connect us to God. Myrrh for the sacrifice. For them the trip across the world wasn’t an inconvenience.

It’s shameful what I call ‘rearranging’ at times. It’s embarrassing really to think of what I call ‘inconveniences’ in light of the Magi. The rearranging of my life is only that when I don’t get Jesus. It’s only when I underestimate or insult Jesus that I’ll use terms like this. When my understanding is right – it’s no longer rearranging…it’s consuming…it’s purpose…it’s worship.