Friday, December 03, 2004
Seek Jesus
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
Jesus might be a few months old at the time this happens. The king here was not happy that the Lord had come and was not going to give his world up for him. Herod was a wicked power man. He did do some good but problem was he was a evil king. He had people problem and demanded to be loved and worshiped. Herod was so wicked he wanted to kill Jesus and rule the world. In the east somehow the Lord told the wise men that Jesus is born and follow the star to find Jesus the King. Not the reason the wise men came to seek Jesus they came to worship him. God somehow told the wise men that he was on earth. They seek him to find him and to honor him. It is good for us to seek the Lord and learn to bow and adore him this season. In the shopping I do and the songs I here Jesus is the focus. If the evil world only knew the Love and Mercy of God is all around us in the season I bet there would be a rush to know him. Like the wise men we need to seek the Lord and find him.
Herod did not see it however. He did not see the Lord of life was born and he wanted like I said to kill Jesus on the night of his birth. Herod was evil in that he wanted to cover his kingship and kill Jesus. Folks like that live all over and do not seek the Lord this season they seek their own selfish desires. They want to get the gifts and I am like that too. I want to get.
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
Here goes the plot for herod to go kill this Gift. He had a plot to kill baby Jesus and to rule. However this shows God was in control and nothing was going to kill Jesus. Here to was the rest of the political world of the area helped in the plot to kill Jesus. He to was seeking the Lord yet his ideas were to kill. Maybe people in this day go and seek the Lord and think they are right. They seek the gifts and the benefits and fail to seek and know Jesus. They want to give their entire tithe and get the gifts they think Jesus is going to give them. It is never about that it is about seeing the heart of Jesus and being in a master slave relationship and serving. In this season you will see pagans sing come let us adore him and they do not have a clue. They sing songs that seek the Lord yet their hearts are as hard as the pavement they stand on.
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the East, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 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.
Back to the wise men. When they found Jesus they had great Joy. When I found Jesus I to had joy because of the Love he shows the sin and me he forgave. Jesus gave me a Love forever and a Joy. Joy is a value because it is the motivator I my Life. My Joy is in Jesus and his love for me. I submit to him out of his love for me. I worship and adore Jesus because Jesus is God. Here is a part of the bible that shows this concept. The wise men gave Jesus gifts and honored him. Jesus is the gift however in worship I am to give the Lord gifts. Jesus is a King and we ought to honor and Love him for that alone.
