"When Herod the king hear this, he was troubled ('disturbed, agitated'), and all Jerusalem with him." (Matthew 2:3)
I pray this new year finds you new. In Jesus Christ new just keeps getting newer. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Notice, "....have passed.., have become...." The past is past; the new is, can we say it?-- always new. Maybe instead of always looking man's concept of "new," we should "look for," accept, and walk in the Eternal.
But to our text. I wondered today why "....all Jerusalem..," was, "agitated." Of course, Herod didn't want a rival. But, "all Jerusalem...."? Weren't there those in Jerusalem who knew the Psalms and the Prophets? Or was it like so many today who when what was only ethereal to them is finally seen as the Reality, they aren't so sure if this is what they were really expecting or wanted.
While there will always be "surprises" in life, there is a very real sense in which world events should not surprise the person who not only reads the Bible but believes/accepts the Bible. There will be "new" events this coming year, events which will be a surprise to many, expected by some, and, there will be many different reactions to these events. But, "troubled, disturbed, agitate," should not be in us. The Words of Jesus in John 14 are akin to the Words He spoke in the Prophets, and they should be our guiding life style and reaction to everything, "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come, you may believe"--------not, "troubled, disturbed, agitated."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray the world events will never leave me, "disturbed, troubled...." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
