January 6th is celebrated by many Christians as the Day of Epiphany. An epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation or insight or a manifestation of a divine being. The story of the visitation of the Magi to the Christ Child, as recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-12), fits both of those definitions. The divinity of the infant Jesus is revealed to the Magi by a star which they follow from their homeland to the land of Judea. But a more sudden revelation happens when King Herod learns that a new king of the Jews had been born, and the Magi are looking for him. He feels threatened by this news and makes plans to eliminate the child. Another more sudden revelation occurs when the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Jerusalem to give Herod more information about the Christ Child but to return to their homes by another route.
We see all through the scriptures how God redirects the lives of people through a variety of ways so that their lives become a witness to God’s grace and mercy. We are now one week into the new year of 2025. What is your plan for the year? How do you imagine your life unfolding as the days pass? No matter how well we plan things will surely happen this year which will cause us to reconsider and alter our plans. How will we respond? Will we become angry because we have been inconvenienced or because we are no longer in control? Or will we remember the stories of scripture and consider how God might be redirecting us to protect us from harm, or trouble, or temptation? If we live our lives in the presence of God and trust in God’s mercy and grace towards us, an interruption to our plans for the year or a change of direction might be the best thing that will happen to us. in 2025.
I pray that whatever happens in 2025, you will experience the presence and blessing of God in powerful ways.