Every
story has a bad guy.
In the Christmas story, the bad guy was King Herod. We can
easily write him off as total evil—a jealous baby-killer. But we should take a
closer look. We all have a little Herod in us.
Herod heard that his position
was about to be threatened. Someone was about to rock his world and he panicked.
Fear and self-protection became his only focus. He had no idea the part he was
playing in God’s story. He could only think of himself and protecting what was
his. In that frame of mind, he could excuse the inexcusable. Aren't we all like
that at times?
How
many mistakes have you made because you panicked? How many decisions were made
from self-interest and self-protection? Only in hindsight did you realize the
consequences of those choices. If Herod had consulted God’s word, sought the
will of God, and made his decisions based upon wisdom rather than selfish
desire, his part in this story would be drastically different. But like
us, he didn’t. He chose to act from self-interest and what seemed right to him
at the time. The results were tragic.
How well can you
identify with Herod? Have you ever made decisions based on self-protection,
jealousy, or greed? Have your poor decisions cost others? Wisdom comes when we
are honest with ourselves about our own selfish desires.
God can help us
overcome those selfish motives and make decisions that honor Him.
.
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