Thursday 13th December

King Herod’s title, king of the Jews, was granted by Rome and never accepted by the Jewish people as a whole. After Jesus was born the wise men came to Jerusalem and asked “Where is the one who has been born the king of the Jews?”

When Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written” Matthew 2:3–5

When the Magi failed to return to Herod with the news of the whereabouts of the baby Jesus he sent soldiers to kill all the children under 2 years old in Bethlehem.

Herod was afraid of losing not only his title, but also the privileges and riches he had acquired over the years by fair means or foul. His efforts were in vain, as we know, and within about 3 years he died.

Saddam Hussein maybe felt similarly - but we all know where that story ended. He had lost his wealth and power already. In Greek mythology, King Midas had all the gold he wanted just by touching anything. It did him no good at all. There are many more cases I know. And almost all of them would go to such extreme lengths to try to hold on to what they had. All to no avail, for we know “you can’t take it with you when you go.”

I am sure none of us would go to such extreme lengths, but are we sometimes a little over protective of our wealth/possessions and our talents? Whether it’s a tithe, a gift to charity, or serving others as we did during the Revive week, are we doing as much as we could or are we holding back? When help is requested do we respond “Sorry, I don’t do that.”

I consider myself as guilty as the next man when it comes to looking after my own time and interests. I’m sure I could do more than I do. Let us all pray that we may find it in our hearts to give and do more in the Lord’s name, and in so doing bring His gospel to others, both in word and deed.

Yours because His