And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet .... Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him." (Matthew 2:4-5, 7-8)

It's a twisted kind of faith Herod has in this passage! He seems to believe in the promised Messiah enough to call in the priests and demand to know where the Bible said Jesus would be born. But he doesn't have enough faith to welcome Jesus as the God-sent blessing He really is—all he can see is someone who might take away his throne.

And yet, don't I do the same thing sometimes?—looking at Jesus as someone who's going to ruin my (sinful!) fun, and not as the gracious, loving Savior He really is. Keeping my distance so I can pretend I don't hear Him!

But that's ridiculous. This is the Lord who loved me so much He lay down His life for me, to set me free from evil—and who rose from the dead to give me life forever. He's not seeking His own good—He's seeking mine. And so I know that, if I allow Him to pull me close to Him, I'll be glad I did in the end.

WE PRAY: Lord, help me to see You for what You really are—the best blessing I've ever had. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

* What should Herod have done, once he figured out that the Messiah had been born?

* Do you think the wise men believed Herod when he said he was planning to worship Jesus?

* Ask the Lord to draw you closer to Him.

Advent Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Today's Bible Readings: Malachi 3-4    Revelation 22

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"