Matthew 2:1-12
We have learned this month that God had a plan. God always has a plan, even today for you and me. God has an opponent as well. The devil opposes God, even though he has already been defeated. He doesn’t want God’s plan to succeed. But God’s plan does succeed, even in an evil world. It’s God’s unstoppable plan. Today and tomorrow we will read how the devil tried to stop God’s plan.
This part of the events of the birth of Jesus begins with the wise men who traveled from far away to come and worship the newborn King. The problem was that an evil king, Herod, discovered that there was another king in competition with him. People who don’t follow God are proud. That means that they always think about themselves. They think that they are the best and most important people. Herod was an especially bad, evil person.
Herod gathered these wise men together in secret. He sent them on to Bethlehem to find the king for him. Herod said he wanted to worship this king, when in fact he really wanted to kill the king.
The wise men believed Herod. They didn’t know he was evil. Sometimes we don’t know what is in other people’s hearts either, do we? So they went and found the King, Jesus, and worshipped Him. But God’s plan still won out. The wise men had a dream that they should not go back to Herod. God told them to go home another way. God protected the baby Jesus because God’s plan is unstoppable.
God’s plans will always win out. The devil and sin are still working in this world. Our enemy wants to stop God’s plan in our lives, so we need to trust God. God is more powerful than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Trust God, his plan will never be stopped!
I Commend Joy! 