Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Provision

Here is the third Wise Man. My husband likes to point out that nowhere does the Bible say that there were three Wise Men, anymore than it says that Eve partook of an apple. The things we assume. I'm not saying there weren't three, I wasn't there nor am I a scholar. Three is not a bad number for the Bible says that a threefold cord is not easily broken. Then again, Jesus sent his disciples out two by two, so that could also be the case. I must confess, being a mother, I prefer three or even four, it's just safer: they came from afar and to a land with people of different customs.

This participant in my Crèche is pictured next to the young mother, kneeling before the Child. The Bible makes it clear these men came to worship Him. We can see the Gold he brought or perhaps it was a vessel containing Frankincense or Myrrh. As a dear friend pointed out to me recently, these were thoughtful gifts: not only were these items of value, to be traded or sold for the young family's needs, but each element also had profound symbolic meaning.

I know it's obvious but it bears repeating: God made us, made this world and put us in it. Even after the world was forever and completely changed when Adam and Eve forsook God's explicit directive, God saw fit to leave us and the bad guy in it side by side. There are joys to be sure, often beautiful and deeply moving, but it's a world of toil, of danger, of obstacles and sorrow. However, God has arranged to be our Provision in it! Here, He makes sure that this young family is equipped for a future they don't even fathom yet. We don't live life with 20/20 retrospect vision, we rarely know what is coming but God sees the future and knows how to prepare us for it so that we'll be able to make it through to our destination.

What shall we say then to these things?If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31


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