I had the opportunity on a Monday in December to present a family home evening lesson to four of our grandchildren. We talked about the Wise Men finding the Baby Jesus. The three youngest boys, usually quite rambunctious, were unusually attentive that night and so I was able to put my energy into trying to help them learn something from that story that they could apply to their own lives.
I took them through the story this way: The Wise Men saw a star in the east and followed it traveling to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."[1]
King Herod heard of their quest and inquired of his chief priests and scribes where Christ was to be born. They told him it had been prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem of Judaea.[2] And so, with evil intentions, Herod sent the Wise Men to Bethlehem and instructed them to search diligently and return and bring him word. The Wise Men departed, ". . . and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."[3]
I asked my grandchildren what it might have been about the Wise Men that allowed them to have the "gift of a star."
We talked about the Wise Men being wise and knowing what to look for; but I also wanted to teach them about another light, a light besides the star, that worked in leading the Wise Men to Jesus.
I told them that when we lived with Heavenly Father before the world was created, we accepted Heavenly Father's plan of happiness. Because we accepted that plan, all of us born on earth have the Light of Christ within us. This Light helps us to feel and recognize our connection to Him.
As John taught, Jesus is "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."[4]
The Wise Men had that Light within them. They nurtured that Light by studying the prophecies about the coming of Christ and by watching with faith for the signs that would foretell His birth. With that preparation, when the star appeared they felt a connection to the star and rejoiced with "exceeding great joy"[5] and followed the star to Bethlehem and to the stable where Mary and Joseph cared for the newborn baby.
When they found him, the Wise Men bestowed valuable gifts upon the baby Jesus. But the Wise Men also received a valuable gift. The joy and rejoicing they experienced when they saw the star was multiplied by an immeasurable amount when they saw the Christ child. They knew that the Baby they found in the stable in Bethlehem truly was sent from God to light the world, to be the King of Kings, the Savior and Redeemer who the prophets had taught would come into the world.
With that witness as their gift and having been "warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."[6]
To end our family home evening, I told the children that like the Wise Men, we have the Light of Christ that helps us find and follow Jesus so that we can receive all the gifts He has for us. One of those gifts is repentance. I told the children that when they repent, Jesus forgives them and helps correct their mistakes.
At that point five-year-old Matthew asked, "And helps us get off the naughty list?" "Yes, Matthew," I said. "We can always get off the naughty list if we trust in Jesus and His light within us."
Probably the reason those three little grandsons had been so attentive in home evening that night was because they were working hard to get off the naughty list before Christmas.
I am grateful that the Light of Christ guided me to teach a lesson that reinforced a lesson that they had already begun to apply. It was a sweet gift.
I share that experience in order to testify of the love Jesus has for us. He, whose birth we have just celebrated, is literally our Savior. He knows those sweet grandchildren and loves them. I love Him. I bear testimony that He knows and loves each of you. It is my prayer that you will feel that love and His guiding light in your lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Matthew 2:2
[2] Matthew 2:5
[3] Matthew 2:9
[4] John 1:9
[5] Matthew 2:10
[6] Matthew 2:12