Matthew

Matthew 1 – 3

matt1-3

Bible Passage:  Matthew 1 – 3

First of all, January has not been a good month for this Bible Reading blog.  We failed to update it as we should and we apologize.

May God grant us His wisdom, His faith, His perseverance and ultimately, His grace to continue this good work.  Let’s start again….

Why Do You Seek Jesus?

We start with the the Gospel of Matthew once again.  And as we are familiar with these passages, we tend to skim through the reading.

I know I did… and had to force myself to go back and read today’s passage once again.

So what struck me in the 3 chapters?

This statement made by Herod…

And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

~ Matthew 2:8

See what he said.

Go!

Search carefully!

When you have found Him…

Bring back word to me…

That I may come …

And worship Him also.

These are very words we would use for God-fearing, truth seeking Christians today as well isn’t it?

We are told to GO into all the world and preach the Gospel so that people may hear of the good news and be saved.  We are told to seek the Lord while He may yet be found.

We tell people and remind ourselves that we need to search the Scriptures for in it are the Words of Life.

And when we find this Word of Life, we are to treasure it in our hearts…

The grace of God allows us to draw near to Him, come close to His throne and mercy seat.

There we will worship Him and crown Him Lord of Lords, and King of Kings!

But even though Herod uttered these words… his motives were very different from the other people in this passage.

The wise men too went out of their way seeking the Messiah.  They saw the Star of the East.  They knew the scripture promise.  They came.  They found. And they worshipped with offerings.

They came with a true heart of worship.

They sought Jesus with pure intentions.

Herod was different.

He too sought Jesus.  But his purpose was to harm the “challenger” to his throne.

His motive was all wrong.

Just like the brood of vipers that turned up at Jordan.

Instead of repentance, they sought conformance.

They sought out John the Baptist not because they truly repented.  But because they did not want to be any different from the others… and it felt like the right thing to do.

But their heart was not in it.

And their lies were brutally exposed.

Why do you seek Jesus today?

 

 

One Comment

  • Camelinaneedle

    In everything that we do, and I am not merely referring to the things we set aside or do for God, we have to be aware of our intentions and whether they have been accompanied by good intentions or whether they have just been accompanied by our own selfish desires.

    God is not one to be lied to. Never. You may be able to lie, even to yourself, but God looks at the heart, and your heart cannot lie because in it lie the truest of intentions, even when you fail to admit them to yourself.

    Just because God does not rebuke you immediately, does not mean that He is not aware. His methods of discipline make themselves known to different people in different ways. Sometimes, He might choose to take action swiftly because that is the best way to put your heart back on track, but sometimes, He might decide to let you gradually figure out your own way back to Him.

    Seek God with a pure heart because He can see past/ through every single layer of denial we cover up our sins and mistakes with.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *