Lessons from Herod

Read: Matthew 2

"When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled..." Matthew 2:3

Examine:

It is no surprise that King Herod was disturbed when the Magi came to Jerusalem looking for the One who had been born King. Herod was not the rightful king from the line of David. In fact he was not even a descendant of Jacob, but was descended from Esau and thus was an Edomite. This fact caused most of the Jews to hate him and never truly to accept him as king, even though he did much for the country. If someone had been rightfully born king, then Herod's job was in jeopardy.

Apply:

There are two lessons from Herod I can learn. First, my insecurities will cause me to consume people. Just this past week I was reminded of this truth. My insecurity regarding a person's opinion of me cause me to lash out at them. Later I found out that I was mistaken but it was too late to undo what I said to this person. I hurt them and it was over nothing but my insecurities. I felt disrespected and so I took measured steps to counter those feelings. Whether it is co-workers, my wife, or my kids; my feelings of inadequacy bring tensions to my relationships that cause other people to suffer.

Second, the things of the world to which I cling will devour the things of God that threaten them. When God stirs a new work in my heart I seldom fear the new work. Most of the time the things I fear are the things I must leave behind. It is easy to get comfortable. It is easy to like the things of my world to the point that they become idols in my life. Once they have ascended to that point in my life, the cost of following God starts to rise.

Pray:

I need to love the call You have on my life and not the thing to which You have called me. The things to which You call me will change over time but the call You have on my life is permanent. Lead me today to understand how to hold on loosely to the things You give me and joyfully embrace the times You ask me to set them down.

Insecurity runs deep in my soul and is a curse that has impacted my family for generations. There is no way I can calculate what this sin in my life has cost me over the years. My best guess is that insecurity is the root of 90% of the struggles I have in life. I confess this to You this morning and ask that You change my perception of me. The me I need to see is Christ in me. He is more than enough in me to accomplish everything to which You have called me.