By Bunni Pounds

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 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 2:10-11

You have probably heard the expression – wise men still seek Him.

As we think about the Christmas story and the miracle of God being born as a humble baby in the flesh – I want to move our hearts and minds toward the act and demonstration of worship and why it is important to combat the extremely ugly PRIDE that attacks our hearts as leaders.

Here is God in a humble form – a BABY - that in the natural shouldn’t cause wise men to marvel or seek after, but when they see Him, they fall on the ground and worship Him. Then they open their treasures that they are carrying on their journey and they present these extraordinary gifts to the baby king. This is extravagant worship!

This week during our Monday 5:55 pm prayer time we will be praying for our national leaders to see Him, worship Him, and to humble themselves and present their gifts and talents to Jesus during this advent season. We will be praying this scripture from Matthew 2 above. (If you are not getting our Monday prayer texts, sign up here by TAKING THE PLEDGE.)

This place of humility – bowing before the Lord and presenting our gifts - is one that all of us need to consider and examine our hearts.  Pride might have snuck into our souls and we didn’t even see it. 

How badly do we need Jesus?

Do we think we can make it one month, one week, one day, even one hour without Him?

Isn’t He the one who has given us all the gifts that we have been given – all our talents, our ability to learn and succeed, and even our places of influence?

Whether you are a government official, a political activist, a ministry leader, or a business leader, I ask you – how badly do you need Jesus?

Have you considered recently your own lack if you didn’t have God in your life?

Pride is a subtle thing – it can sneak into our lives and we aren’t even aware of it.

As a young staffer for a U.S. Congressman – I was thrilled that I got to know important people, that I had access that others didn’t and that I KNEW secrets and important things that made me special. Pride crept in and I didn’t see it.

Now after fifteen years in politics, I can identify it in my heart pretty quickly and I am actively LOOKING for the ugliness of pride to come up in my life. I am thankful for my friends who identify it and call it out. I attack it with everything I know to do – I bow publicly before the Lord and humble my heart every time I can. I love to worship and send time with the Lord in the place of prayer. I try to go and help people who are less fortunate than me and share the gospel – whether that is at the grocery store or intentionally going on the streets to love on someone else who doesn’t know the people I know or doesn’t have the access I have. I have discovered that if I don’t do something intentional and dramatic as part of my lifestyle then my heart doesn’t get cleaned out of the ugliness of this enemy of my soul.

In the Christmas story, we see these “WISE MEN” falling on their faces before a baby as they acknowledge their need for God. They leave their greatest treasures at the manager. Wow – what a dramatic and beautiful picture of humility.

I want that to be me – the campaign manager, the former candidate, the one who “knows people” – throwing my gifts before the Lord. I don’t want my knowledge and my influence to keep me from the person who has the ultimate wisdom.  I want to be one of the wise “men” that finds Jesus and throws my crowns at His feet.

Wise men and women still seek Him…….

Will you seek Him with me this Christmas season? Let’s leave all of our weaknesses and almost more importantly our STRENGTHS at His feet.

(If God is touching your heart and doing anything in your life through what we are putting out, please let us know….you can email me at info@christiansengaged.org. To get into our system, make sure you TAKE THE PLEDGE here.)