It is amazing how quickly these last six weeks have gone by. This past week brought “It Could Only Be Jesus” to a close with the following thoughts:

• Wise men and King Herod. We read Matthew 2:1-6 where a few interesting things are occurring. The wise men arrive. They traveled a far distance out of their need to know about the newborn King. They came to worship. Matthew Henry states this: “And those in whose hearts the day-star is risen, to give them any thing of the knowledge of Christ, make it their business to worship him.” Awareness and knowledge of who Christ is should cause each of us to pause and worship Him. Then we have King Herod, who is by now an older king. The news of this newborn king disturbs him for he wanted no rival. He didn’t pause to truly converse with these wise men and learn what the birth of Jesus truly would mean. He was just disturbed to think there was another king. How very sad that this news would cause such foolish dread and fear, causing him to totally miss the news of Christ’s birth and the hope which had been born into our world. This raises an important question for each of us … Will we be like the wise men or like King Herod? Will all that we have come to learn cause us to worship Him? Or will our hearts be hardened? May we be wise people who fall on our knees and say, “For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

• One glimpse brings joy and worship. Matthew 2:7-12 brings us a step closer to the wise men. It only took one glimpse of the star, the sign they were looking for, and that one glimpse elicited joy and worship. So it is with us … as we focus and look to the Lord, our hearts also will be filled with joy and we will respond with worship.

• Trust and obey. Matthew 2:13-15 turns our focus to Joseph, who is often overlooked in the story of Christ’s birth. We find Joseph being visited by an angel in a dream who tells him to flee and not return until he receives word to do so. Verse 14: “That night Joseph left…”. He didn’t wait until the morning, letting his family have a good night’s sleep. He woke them up and went. Joseph, motivated by deep love, displays humble obedience and a protective spirit. I want more of this in my life. May I not need all the details but obey and protect as I trust God.

• The temporary, the fleeting, and the eternal. Matthew 2:16-18 reveals the actions of Herod. Herod was known for his viciousness. My Bible commentary states: “He even killed his own son to protect his throne.” Can we even imagine? We can so hold onto the temporary, the fleeting and Jesus came to give us the eternal, that which will last. This made me ask myself the question: What will I be remembered or known for?
• Every place is ordained by God. We closed the study with reading Matthew 2:19-23 and Luke 2:39-40, where we find Jesus’ family moving yet again. This time they end up in Nazareth. This is not per chance but to fulfill another prophecy given long before the birth of Christ. Every step and place of their journey has been by God’s sovereign design. And so it is with each of our lives. Some of us have not moved very much, staying close to where we grew up. Others have moved about often. But every place in each of our lives has been ordained by God. I wonder how often we truly recognize this or give thought to it? I wonder how different our day would be if we viewed it as planned by God rather than our schedules?

As we bring this study to a close, in many ways – it is just beginning.  May we worship Him and exalt Him in our lives and in our homes. For He is truly worthy because …