And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. (KJV)
Herod is the quintessential bad guy. After all, who wants to kill a child? The answer is you and I. We may see Herod as the embodiment of evil, but we have all wanted to kill the baby Jesus.
God became flesh for the reason of our salvation. By His death on a cross, we have been brought to life. Yet He would never have needed to suffer that death had we not sinned. The simple, unpleasant fact is this. Every lie we tell, every act of greed we indulge, every lust we fulfill is grounds for the crucifixion of Christ. When we sin, we are saying that we would rather the baby in the manger have suffered and died than that we should do what is right.
We rightly revile Herod and all who seek the death of innocents. We do well to remember Herod each time we are tempted so that we do not do again what he did.
Father, I thank You so much this Christmas for sending Your Son to be my savior. Strengthen me with Your grace that I may not sin against You. In the name of my blessed Lord Jesus, Who with You and the Holy Spirit reigns as one God, now and forever, amen.
Copyright © 2011 by Steven R. Perkins
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