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Instead of reposting daily here the devotionals (which were posted 2 years on my blog), I put these in a FREE downloadable PDF for you to print off and enjoy with your children! This is a sweet tradition we do year after year following Christmas. There are 11 devotionals about the magi–to start your year off in a sweet way after celebrating Jesus’s birth.

As we put away some of our decorations–we leave our nativity out. We move our wise men on the other side of our home. Each day–we move them closer to Jesus–and we have a devotional about them together. At the end of each devotional, we write down a way that each of us saw Jesus that day–in something or someone and we place it in our treasure box. There is nothing sweeter than starting our year off by looking for Jesus together–just like the wise men. This has become a sweet tradition we always do after Christmas–and it’s the perfect way to lead into and start a new year!

YOU CAN PRINT OFF THE FREE PDF “THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI” DEVOTIONAL HERE

If you don’t want to print this off–you should also be able to open it in your browser and read along each day with your children!

May you have a blessed journey together looking for Jesus and drawing closer to Him! Wishing you an amazing year ahead!

xoxo!

Andrea

Join us on the Journey of the Magi–you can start with the Intro HERE and then Day 1 HERE.

Day 2 – “They came from the East…”

Today we will see in the lives of the Magi the importance of stepping out in faith…even when you feel like you are alone…even when what God is asking you to do doesn’t make perfect sense…even when God’s plan for your day isn’t comfortable. The amazing thing the Lord does here is that He also provides others to walk this difficult journey with each wise man. Not one had to journey alone. They had separate callings, but often the Lord will give us friends and other people to step out in faith with during different seasons of our lives just like He did for the wise men.

Matthew’s book in the Bible gives the fullest story of the Magi in the Bible–and from Matthew we are only told they are from the east.

Matthew 2:1-2 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the One who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew tells us in his book the Magi came from the east. He just says Magi–and we assume there were 3 as we learn later that they brought three gifts to present to Jesus. Tradition, however, has also passed down and it has been historically documented that there were, indeed, three; it is also documented in historical writing that they were from the families of Shem, Ham and Japhet–some speculate that one was from Africa (northern Ethiopia)–and scholars have speculated that they came from Persia, Arabia, or even India). Their names are given as Casper, Balthasar and Melchoir in historical writings.

During this time, Magi were very important leaders in the government. For these leaders to leave their city and place in the government would have been quite a big deal! They risked losing their place in the government power–everything they had worked a lifetime to achieve–all for the sake of obeying God and going to worship His Son. To tell those who were under them, in their care and who followed them and trusted in their leadership that they were leaving to follow a STAR to see the Son of God–would have not only raised eyebrows but might have also risked their reputation being the wise men that so many saw them to be. Many probably thought they were crazy!

Magi were not only powerfully politically, but they also had priestly duties and were seen as holy. Many may have not agreed with their leaving their duties and families to follow God in this way–but we know the Magi went. They obeyed God, and they took a risk not worrying about what others thought of them in order to obey and do what God was asking them to do.

Their journey was not a short one either–but most likely OVER 900 miles by camel. (Our family lives in Atlanta, Georgia–so this would be like us traveling on camel and by foot all the way to San Antonio, Texas! Take a minute to go to this website: http://www.distancebetweencities.net/ and finding a city 900 miles from where you live. Now you can better understand why it probably took the Magi 1-2 years to finally reach baby Jesus to worship Him!)

Not an easy journey to begin with…and if scholars are correct that they were EACH from different countries. You can imagine each of their journeys had to begin separately–and then they came together. This was during a time of NO telephone, email or letter writing–so God spoke to each of the Magi separately, and each of the Magi had to step out in faith regardless if they thought they would be alone on the entire journey. But one day they came together as they got closer to Bethlehem following the star that would take them to the Light of the World–Jesus Christ.

Many times our journeys, the most difficult ones the Lord asks us to take will be like the wisemen, and we feel like we begin it all alone. However, God is always with us–willing to lead and guide us as we look to Him and follow Him step by step.

Many times, the Lord will also provide others to journey with us—who kind of meet us half way yet they become just a big part of our journeys. Together we encourage one another and cheer one another on—pick one another up when one falls and rejoice as we get closer to the finish line that the Lord has called us to.

The Lord always guides, and He always provides. And with Herod ahead at their next stop in Jerusalem…they would need one another for what was ahead. Can you think of a time when you and a friend were on the same journey–where you both felt like God was calling you to do the SAME thing? Has there been a time when you felt like God was asking you to do something and you were afraid to step out an do it all by yourself? There will be times in your life when you feel like you are alone in your journey–but you can pray that God will provide a friend to walk beside you and you can encourage one another and point one another to Jesus along the way!

Thank you God how you always provide for us on our journeys. Thank you that you are always with us–and that in your great grace you also provide others to journey with us. Help us to step out in faith and follow you before we see others doing the same–and to trust that you will provide others to encourage us along the way when we need it most.

Remember to share a way you saw Jesus today–and add it to your family’s treasure box!

Today–we begin our traditional after Christmas journey…(you can begin this with your family ANY time after Christmas!)

The Journey of the Magi…

Day 1.

Matthew 2:1-2 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

After the King was born–the day we celebrate on Christmas…isn’t this when the journey really begins?? Always looking for Jesus. Running towards Him. Longing to see Him. This. This is what I really want to teach my children.

So our journey now begins.

For many families–this is the time they start putting up their Christmas decorations. But for us, some will go up…but not our Magi or our manger scene. For the next couple of weeks–our Magi will journey through our home getting a little closer to the manger each day–a little closer to seeing Jesus. Each day will represent almost a months time in the actual magi’s journey as we remember the almost YEAR long journey it took for the magi to finally arrive to worship the king.

Each morning, the children will run down the stairs to find the magi…to see how far they have come from their last resting place. And each morning (or night when morning passes us too quickly by) we will sit with them as we reflect on their journey and what led them to continue toward the King NO MATTER WHAT.

This journey will inspire us in the year ahead–to continue to draw closer to Jesus.

This journey will remind us that the year ahead will not always be easy–but to trust in the One who is calling us.

This journey will bring us to our knees to worship…and remind us to bring our own gifts to Jesus…to bring glory to Him.

In our after Christmas craziness–putting things “back together”, I don’t want to forget there is something to be learned with the magi’s journey to Christ.

Yet, because their journey began after the birth of Christ–ours, too, would begin the day after Christmas–just after we celebrated the birth of Christ in our home.

And we begin our journey with the magi today…

Day 1

For the next 2 weeks, our family devotionals will be centered around the wisemen and their journey to Jesus. We will explore the Journey of the Magi–where they were from, who they were, the star they followed…we will dream about what their journey must have been like together…and twists and turns they had to take to help protect Jesus from King Herod.

Our goal throughout the day EACH day: Throughout the day–like the wisemen…we will look for Jesus. We will look for His majesty in creation. We will look for Him in kindness and acts of love in others. And we will even look for Him in ourselves. Each night for the next 2 weeks, we will learn something new about the wisemen and their journey beginning first in Matthew’s account of the magi’s story, and we will end by sharing ways we saw Jesus that day.

Look for Him as you go throughout your day. In creation. In others. In acts of love and kindness. In your own heart. And carry that with you–throughout day remembering how you are seeing Jesus show up in your life and heart each day. Each day you can choose one of the ways you saw Jesus with your family.
After we have our devotional about the wisemen and their journey to see Jesus each day, we will each have a chance to share and write down a way you saw Jesus that day. We will put our “Jesus sightings” in a treasure box (similar to what we are imagining the wisemen to carry)…and at the end of our journey we’ll share them ALL over again at once and rejoice in all the ways we have seen Him during our journey!

Then, each night–after you go to bed–while you are sleeping…we will move the wise men a little bit closer to the manger scene! In the morning, you can run to find them to see how much closer they are to the manger scene–some where in our home. Some days it may seem they are off course–some days much too far away…and others–back on track…probably much like their journey often seemed throughout that year long journey to bring gifts to Jesus and worship Him. (Some nights–as a special treat–different children may be asked to move the magi closer to the King–to our nativity set too.)

We can confidently guess the journey of the Magi was between 1-2 years–so each of our days will represent a MONTH in our devotional time the next couple of weeks. Can you imagine traveling A YEAR to deliver gifts and see baby Jesus?! Can you imagine not knowing how long the journey would be but leaving your home country to follow a STAR of all things into the desert?! Can you imagine leaving to see a baby that you have been told is the Son of God?!

They left everything they knew and left believing in faith that God had called them to go despite what the world would say about them! They were trusted leaders–yet they left their honor and prestige and were probably called crazy in their going! Their journey is amazing—it is full of faith, wonder–and even adventure as they are tricked by King Herod but because they have learned to listen to and follow God they are redirected–and Jesus’s life is saved. They are redirected in the end down a more difficult route—but for His sake it would be worth it.

Has God ever asked you to do something that required a big step of faith like the magi? Although they might have felt alone and unsure at different points in the journey, God never left them–and they always had a bright star to lead them and remind them God was with them. Today is where our journey begins with the Magi.

Can you think of ONE way you have seen God today? Let’s share that with one another, write it down and put it in our treasure box to mark the beginning of our journey…

Dear God,

Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to us. Like the Magi, we want to follow your guidance–and today we come to worship You for loving us and sending your Son for us. Open our eyes so we may see You on our journey this year ahead. Lead and guide us–and use our gifts for Your glory.

Amen.