Worship That Is Costly - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

After Jesus was born … wise men from the East came … 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.
Matthew 2:1, 11 NKJV

Worship That Is Costly
Shortly after the Lord was born, wise men came from the East to find the One who was born King of the Jews so that they could worship Him. God saw to it that His Son was honored. These men made this long difficult journey, undeterred by the obstacles of the way, persistent until they fulfilled their purpose, which was to worship the King. What distance did they travel? How long did it take? How much effort did they invest in order to have this worship meeting? We do not know for certain, yet it certainly was significant. And how about us? Are we deterred from attending meeting because it is too far, the traffic too heavy, or whatever other excuse there may be?

And how did the wise men come? With empty hands? No, we read that when they worshiped the Lord they opened their treasures and presented gifts, not to Mary or Joseph but to the Lord: gold, frankincense, and myrrh—costly gifts carefully chosen, fit for a king. Thus they demonstrated their evaluation of the worthiness of this One. What a worship meeting! Many today prefer the ministry of God’s Word, allocating worship to a secondary place, but these wise men gave the Lord His rightful place of honor.

May this also be our joy and attitude that, unmoved by obstacles of inconvenience or bodily weakness, we come into the presence of the Lord to worship Him! May we come with hearts prepared, with offerings to the Lord who is worthy of all that we can give, from a heart full of gratitude for who He is and what He has done.

-- Albert Blok