Today’s reading: Matthew 2:1-12
On their quest to find Jesus, the wise men come to Jerusalem and end up meeting with King Herod, who’s the current residing king over the Jewish people. When Herod discovers that the purpose of the wise men’s visit is to find the baby who had been born “king of the Jews” (as scripture foretold), he feels threatened and immediately puts in motion a plan to kill this baby boy who would be king. So Herod deceptively tells the wise men that he is also excited about this child, and sends the wise men off with instructions to immediately let him know where the child is once they locate him so that he can worship him too.
God’s ability to be in control of all things while using good, bad and even ugly people and circumstances to accomplish His purposes is the message that came across loud and clear to me as I took in this passage. Although Herod wanted to snuff Jesus out of the picture–and he did his best to accomplish this–it didn’t in any way thwart God’s plan. Instead, God used Herod, the wise men and the upcoming exodus to Egypt for Mary, Joseph and Jesus (Matthew 2:12-23) to advance and accomplish His overall purpose.
The same is true in our lives. We live in a sinful world, and that means that as we are striving to live for and serve God, things won’t always be easy or play out as we’d like. We will encounter opposition. We will face spiritual warfare. But just as God was presiding over the situation with the wise men and Herod, He is watching over and advancing His plan through each of us right now. There’s no opposition or roadblock that’s too big for God.
What’s one lesson about God that you learned or noticed from the account of the wise men? What situation do you need to turn over and entrust to God and His way of doing things today? Tami
Source: Tami’s Blog
