Are You Herod?

Are You Herod?

King Herod and Wise Men
Have you ever thought you could be Herod? The jealous king who killed innocent babies just to make sure there would not be any rivals for him. I used to say no. I used to think he was way out there. Not like me.

But then I looked deeper into the text.
I looked deeper into my heart.
I looked deeper into the eyes of Jesus.

Lord, have mercy. I am Herod!

How come? you might ask. Let me explain.

When Herod learned that the wise men were seeking the newborn King of the Jews he did not like it. He did not like it at all. He was actually terrified.

When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified. (Matthew 2:3, MSG)

He did not want his plans interrupted. He did want any revivals. He did not want anybody else to be above him.

Does it sound familiar? Are you Herod?

How often do we not want our plans to be interrupted? Do we want revivals? Do we want anybody to tell us what to do? No, we don’t. Not even God.

Lord, have mercy. I am Herod.

We want to be our own kings. We want to make our own plans. We want to decide how our life will turn out. And we might go into great lengths to get what we want. We might do almost anything to protect ourselves.

Just like Herod. He killed thousands of innocent babies to protect his way of life. Would we go that far? Lord, have mercy.

Is it really that difficult to surrender?
Is it really that terrible not to be your own boss?
Is it really that awful to have God who knows whats best for you?

 

Gracious God,
Forgive us for not letting you have your way in our lives.
Forgive us for wanting to be our own bosses.
Forgive us for wanting our own ways.
Cleanse us, Lord.
Burn what needs to be burned.
But don’t give up on us.
We want to surrender.
Help us to surrender every corner of our hearts.
May only your will happen in/through our lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you Herod? What are you keeping from God?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you let God arrange your life the way He wants!

Image courtesy of ochristian.com. This post was refurbished from last year. Linking up today with Sharing His Beauty & Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday and

4 thoughts on “Are You Herod?

  1. Yikes. When you put it that way, I can see myself as Herod, too. Thanks for the wake-up call, Mari-Anna. May I continue to fight my own control and let God do what he wants to with my life.

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