Adoration

We are all at it.
Followers of X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, as well as sports fans, and music lovers find ourselves doing the same thing. We love to adore and worship the focus of our our interest (or obsession). Our celebrity culture has helped to develop this human desire to idolise.
But idols rise and fall, and we manage to gain enjoyment from all phases of the life of a rising or falling star. When it comes to it, we seem to be more like vultures than genuine worshippers.
But of course the Bible is also full of people who are hooked into adoration and worship of one thing or another. This should be no surprise, as the people we find in Scripture are very much like us - warts and all.
Being The Feast of the Epiphany today, the story of the Wise Men's visit to Bethlehem shows different sorts of adoration.
'Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2.1-2) The Wise Men worked out that this amazing rising star demanded an astonishing response from them, and they were ready to adjust their lives in order to give what what due to this king.
Later in the story, the disturbed Herod asks the Wise Men to help him. 'Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” (Matthew 2.8) It is striking that Herod used the language of worship when considering his own response.
The Wise Men themselves show the way, in their adoration of the child Jesus. 'They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.' (Matthew 2.11)
The question that we face, every day, is how we show our adoration of Jesus - in the way we live and the way we go through life.
Best wishes,
Richard