Follow those men!

I was reading this evening about the lectionary passage from Matthew this week. It is the story of the Magi visiting Jesus. I noticed a few things in the GBOD/Worship information.

• The magi left home without knowing how far they would have to travel. Would we do that today? When we travel, I take maps with the journey planned out. I know how long it will take us to get where we are going, and along the way, when Steve says, "How far?" I can calculate the answer. We never leave home without knowing how far we will travel.
• They didn't know what the Messiah would look like -- his age, his appearance, or his financial status. They really knew nothing, except to follow the star.
• They didn't know when or if they would return home. Isn't that information that we always know prior to leaving home?
• They brought gifts. Do we bring gifts to God? One passage I read suggested that the Magi's gifts enabled Joseph to finance the trip to Egypt. Wouldn't that be cool?
• The trip was not easy, and yet they did it anyway. Do we attempt to do "hard" things?
• They were gentiles, not Jews. Perhaps they foreshadowed the future in this way.

Do we follow the example of the wise men? Perhaps we should.