Dia de Los Reyes!

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Revelation 3:20

As we drove through the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay, it seemed a very sleepy town. Most of the shops and business’ were closed and we saw very few people walking through the streets, as we drove along the 17 km of condo buildings along the coast line.

Finally, we asked a local, “it’s Friday, where are all the people? It’s a holiday, Dia de los Reyes (day of the 3 Kings), everyone is at home!” Oh that’s right it’s January 6th!

What Is Three Kings Day?

“Three Kings Day or the Feast of Epiphany is a holiday that commemorates the day the three wise men — Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar — arrived with gifts for baby Jesus. Three Kings Day or Epiphany is celebrated by Roman Catholics on Jan. 6, as the culmination of the 12 days of Christmas.”

We never thought we would show up in Uruguay on Latin American Christmas but it looks like we did. As we walked through the streets of the old city we noticed the beauty of the architecture of the homes, in particular we noticed the doors. It seemed there were no two alike (they clearly did not buy them at Home Depot), some looked new and freshly painted, others looked very old, even ancient. We began to snap pictures of the doors and buildings, to record them and make sure they would remain in our memory.

Being captured by the sight of these doors seemed fitting on Dia de los Reyes. As the country around us, really the continent around us, in a way, was celebrating the opening of a door. When Jesus came into the world over two millennium ago, he opened a door for all of us to have the possibility of knowing God as a Friend, Brother & Father. What amazes me most is this is not an offer that God made to a select few, but to all mankind, no one is excluded.

Today, I hope we are all reminded of the love and sacrifice it took for Jesus to open that door for us to know His love and grace. My prayer today is that we will know the love of God made possible through the door Jesus opened, and especially the people of Montevideo, Uruguay!