June 12th

June 12th -- Matthew 2:1-12 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202:1-12&version=NLT)

Please go read!

So these wise men are told by Herod to tell him where Jesus is, so he can "worship him, too!" Now, if you've read on, you know this isn't true - Herod wanted, in fact, to kill Jesus, because he thought Jesus was a threat to his being king. Now, the wise men obviously would have had no way to know this, and therefore would have probably been jumping at the chance to tell the king, like he asked, where Jesus was, so the king could worship Jesus, too. The wise men almost walked right into this set up, which would have brought about Jesus' being killed as an infant. Can you imagine being the cause of an early death of Jesus? It's brutal to even imagine... However, God of course had different plans. He recognized that the wise men were not trying to have Jesus killed, but were just walking into Herod's scheme unknowingly. He doesn't want that sort of thing to happen to us, so He will give us direction, just like He gave the wise men. Now, with the wise men, it was very clear - they had a dream that warned them not to go back to Herod. Often it's not as clear for us. However, He does not let us walk blindly into the devil's lies and traps. Sometimes, though, the question is not if He's giving us a sign, but if we're looking and listening for it...

That's all! God bless! Shalom!