Jesus Isn't Picky - He Wants Our Good And Not-So-Good

Matthew 2:10-12 “10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”

Introduction

I thank God for each of you and the effort you put forth last week. Lady Jordan and I are grateful for the love we received. I believe God was with us because of the unity between the saints last week. We were blessed because God’s name was glorified.

I thank God for our young people’s Christmas presentation.

We were told to bring something we wanted to give Jesus as a gift...

The wise men brought gifts to Jesus when He was born. And the gifts they brought were gold, frankincense, and myrh. The wise men came from a far country and they didn’t come with empty hands. They brought some pretty expensive gifts to the baby Jesus.

It may seem like the only thing Jesus will accept is something that’s expensive, valuable and perfect. We have to understand that the wise men weren’t perfect because they came came from a an area where the people worshiped stars, the sun, and other idols.

We are being made perfect by the grace Jesus left with us, so Jesus wants our good and bad.

Illustration

All of us have either said it or heard it in the act of giving gifts. “It isn’t much but I hope you like it.” I saw a meme in social media that told everyone to stop saying it isn’t much. As long as you gave what you could, and gave your best, it is a lot to give. Jesus is different than we are. He wants what we have to offer even if it isn’t much. He wants our good and not-so-good.

Matthew 2:10-11

“10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 ” And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The wise men also known as Magi, were people who watched or gazed at the stars, they were astrologers. So they saw a great star in the east. They were already anticipating the birth of the Messiah so they followed this star for a great distance until they came to the place where the baby Jesus was.

When they saw the star, they got excited and started rejoicing with exceedingly great joy.

When they found Jesus, they saw Him lying in a manger which is a feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling clothings, which were rags.

They fell down and worshiped Him.

They opened their treasures and gave their gifts to baby Jesus.

Matthew 2:12

“12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”

The wise men didn’t leave the same way they came because they were warned in a dream from the heavenly throne. They departed another way.

Let’s depart another way when we leave today. Let’s not leave in the same way we came.

Jesus wants us to accept Him. He wants our good and not-so-good!

Herod the king was threatened by the news of a newborn king. He pretended to send them so he could come worship the baby Jesus when his plan was to kill him.

We should always remember that Jesus wasn’t an ordinary king. He wasn’t an earthly king. He is a King, sent by God His Father, to save the lost!

CLOSING

We can learn a lot from the wise men.

The wise men were seekers who weren’t perfect. We, like them, have some things that are less than perfect.

The wise men fell down and worshiped Jesus.

The wise men gave gifts to Jesus.

What do we have that Jesus will accept? Everything! That’s right everything! 1 Peter 5:7 says “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Jesus isn’t picky! He wants our good and not-so-good..

Our sins - He wants it so He can cleanse us from sin and all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Our bad tempers and attitudes - He wants to take those from us so He can replace them with the fruit of the spirit. (Galatians 5:22-24)

Our idols - He wants those so He can replace them with genuine worship of a genuine God in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

Our fears - He wants to replace them with power and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Like the wise men, let’s not leave the same way we came today.

We might think we’re not valuable to the Lord, but even with all of our hangups, mixups, mess-ups, and give-ups, we still have a valuable gift to bring Him and that’s our soul to be saved.