Wanna Be a Steader!

Do You Need Convinced?

Matt. 2:13-18 - "When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.  'Get up,' he said, 'take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him'

"So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.  And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet:  'Out of Egypt I called my Son.'

"When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.  Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

"'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children And refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.'"

Isn't it funny that in this world we have a tendency to doubt the miraculous? 

It took the appearance of an angel to convince Joseph, no matter how much he loved young Mary, to believe that she was carrying the Lord's Babe.  But when he was later told in a divine dream that Herod was trying to kill his "Son," Joseph had no doubt that Jesus, God's Son, had come to earth and was in his care.  He needed to be convinced of Immanuel's coming.

Herod NEVER had any trouble believing.  He knew about the star that had appeared nearly 2 years before; the news of the shepherds may have reached even to the throne of the great Herod and all he needed was confirmation from the Magi that the new King, indeed, had been born.  Even though his heart was hard, he needed no convincing of the King's arrival.

What about you?  Do you need convinced that He has already come...has come as Immanuel:  God with us?  Or are you still waiting around with hardened heart, looking but not seeing? 

Look around you this CHRISTmas season...the Light of the World is represented by the twinkling of lights displayed at nearly every house, by every CHRISTmas tree's high shining star and in the carols floating through the air.  Whether it is intentional or not, whether the world realizes it or not...with each light that shines, each star that's hung, each carol that's sung...we ARE acknowledging the coming of The King!

Jesus has been revealed to the world, He has no reason to hide...welcome Him in this Christmas season!

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><