Real Hope: The Birth of Our Saviour KingSample

Be Attentive

In the celebration of Christmas and our excitement at remembering what a gift Jesus’ arrival is to our lives, it’s easy to forget how threatening His birth was.

Herod was the king of the day, and he feared Jesus would take away from his power. Here was a child whose birth had not only been anticipated for thousands of years – He was God incarnate. How could Herod possibly compare?

In Matthew 2 when Herod sent the Magi to find where Jesus had been born, he wanted to kill Him. He wanted to stop God’s plans in their tracks and retain his control.

What’s incredible is that Herod’s plan might have worked had the Magi not been attentive to their dream. And let’s note that the entire group of Magi seemed to have had the same dream. Was that God covering His bases hoping that if He gave it to them all at least one might listen? Was He telling all of them so they could feel confident the dream was from God?

No doubt God would have other ways of protecting Jesus from Herod, but the story of the Magi reminds us that God doesn’t fulfil His purposes alone. We’re invited to be crucial parts of His plan.

The thing we need to do is be attentive. How is God trying to speak to you today? What is He saying that you need to hear?

Written by LAURA BENNETT