Worshipping the Wonderful One
By, Wendy M.
“Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:18)
I never thought of going to the book of Judges for a Christmas devotional, but when I began a study on the word “wonderful” in Scripture, this was the first passage in the Word in which the word wonderful appeared. Yes, the Word appeared to a man and his wife who had been barren and were told that they would have a son who would be set apart for a special purpose.
And He did wonders before their eyes. And they wondered why He did not kill them once they recognized in Whose presence they had been.
The Hebrew word translated as wonderful signifies that which is incomprensible, marvelous, surpassing, extraordinary, difficult to understand, separate or distinct.
This is our God—the One who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1). The One who did wonders in the land of Egypt to reveal Himself as the Only True God. (Exodus 7-12)
Those wonders weren’t the kind that I think of when I think of wonderful.
What stirs wonder in me? Snow-crusted pine trees be-ribboned with fog. A sweet smile on a baby’s face. A word of wisdom out of the mouth of a child.
But not flies and frogs and boils and death. Yet God reveals Himself in these wonders, too. Yes, they are difficult to understand, but they are all a part of revealing to us Who He is. They all must lead us to worship, as Manoah and his wife worshiped when He Who is Wonderful came to them.
They knew that the One in Whose presence they had been had every right to snuff their lives out, and yet He didn’t. He used them for His purposes, and they surely wondered at that, too.
Kind of like the wonder we have when we consider that this Angel became a Man, left the glories of Heaven to complete the greatest and most horrible of wonders—the sacrifice of His Life for our sake.
Now that is a Wonder we will behold not just this Christmas season but every day of our lives if we will let that wonder lead us to worshipping the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Let the true JOY of the season begin!
