Christian Living
The Magi had good intentions; their travel to Jerusalem was informed by the appearance of an unusual star in the East from where they journeyed. A king has been born, and all they came to do was to worship Him with their bow and with kingly gifts. How did they know what the star signified? They were the three wise men. Shepherds, yes, in the fields at night; awake enough to identify an angel when they saw one. This is one night watch that would bring them the honor of being surrounded by the glory of the Lord. And though frightened by the grandeur of this glory, they could still hear the angel entrust them with probably the best shepherding job they ever handled; to guard the news of this great birth and yet to find the Child, and then to lead everyone to this good news of great joy.
“Glory to God in the highest {heaven}, and on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.” Luke 2:14 AMP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGfxlGeNVmQ
Innocently and naively, the Magi engaged the locals, asking about the New Born King. Little did they know that their innocent inquiry not only threw the people into confusion (people who led normal simple lives not discerning the times), but their quest also sounded rather too loudly to Herod the King as a threat. A King? What King? There is only one King as Herod knew it…..Herod the Great!
Anxious Herod quickly called an emergency meeting of all Chief Priests and Scribes, ‘...surely somebody in his cabinet must know something about this birth,….,’ And surely they did, …. at least they remembered prophet Micah’s prophecy (Micah Chapter 5). But with all their knowing, only the Magi knew the sign to help locate the exact birth place of the Child..
Anxious and devious Herod, smart by human reckoning, immediately knew that if anyone would have additional information on this birth, it would have to be the three wise men. So Herod summoned the Magi, squeezed them for more information about this birth. Unfortunately, they knew no more than to follow the sign given to them by the angel, a sign that would lead them to the manger. Hmm…, did God send the magi on an errand without sufficient guide? Or is this some wild goose chase? What was God doing through all this? Was God not playing a dangerous game exposing the Magi to Herod? Why lead the Magi to Herod knowing he’d seek to kill the Child and them too? And why was God keeping a secret?
Having caused more than enough stir and disturbance among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the wise men probably only survived in Herod’s presence because they possessed clue to a secret of high priority to Herod. Kill the Magi, lose the clue. So Herod set them off to Child hunt, having secured their commitment to return with more information to enable him also go and worship {actually kill} the new born King.
As soon as the shepherds left Herod’s presence, God caused them to spot the star again, it was the star that led them to the manger.
The good news was out. A King was born!!! The whole of Jerusalem knew it, the Priests and Scribes knew it and Herod the Great knew it. Yet, God kept this Child a secret……
Exhausted from their long journey to the manger, added to Herod’s drilling, the excitement of seeing the glory of God and locating the Child King, the wise men laid to rest. This wouldn’t be another watch night. They must rest. Besides, they still have Herod to face again on their way home. Well, ….so they thought, until God warned them in a dream. ‘They must follow another way back home and not return back to Herod.’ God preserved their lives.
God protected the Magi from being used and murdered by Herod., but yet, He still kept this Child a secret! ……Secret for the outside world, but not the watchful shepherds. Thank God we have His Spirit living in us now, through Him we know the secret things of God.
“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
I Corinthians 2:11-12 NKJV
Joseph acting on an instruction from the Lord, fled with Jesus and Mary to Egypt and they remained there until Herod’s death.
Why did God choose this line of action? He could take on Herod directly if He wanted. Herod would be dead in a second if God chose to eliminate him. But God seem to have chosen to keep a secret.
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and King, I leave us with a thought….God kept the manger a secret for a while, and for a reason. He was acting in His supreme wisdom.
There are secrets God still wants to keep until the right time. We must be sensitive and discerning to identify them and to act only by the wisdom of God no matter how foolish it sounds. “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:25.
We read in Acts 16 about Paul and Timothy; how that the Holy Spirit would not let them preach in the West Coast Province of Asia nor allow them enter Bithynia. Instead they were directed to Macedonia. How did they know that?…. Sensitivity and discernment.
I remember few years back doing a blog post on Christianity & Alcoholism. It was a 2-part blog post. The first part was a preamble https://graceobomanu.com/christianity-alcohol-any-mix-blogpost-1/
In the second part I really wanted to prove to my readers that Alcohol and Christianity don’t mix. But the Holy Spirit led me differently. I felt a very strong restrain from following an argumentative path. I was to simply line-list all the scriptures relating to alcohol I could find in the Bible and let the Holy Spirit do the talking. That’s exactly what I did https://graceobomanu.com/christianity-alcohol-any-mix-blogpost-2/.
Some days later, a brother called me to say my chosen approach to discussing the issue was a great display of wisdom. That article generated a lot of discussion especially among the group I cited in the first post. Still does. I am glad that in my recent interactions with this group, I see some level of control with consuming alcohol, in fact a few have desist from the act for one reason or the other.
Walking with God demands sensitivity, trust and patience. There are places to keep away from, partnerships to avoid. ,groups to not become a member of, projects to not take on. There are also proven ways of getting certain things done, but in 1 Corinthians 2:5 tells we see what to priotize “…..that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” NKJV
There is a time for everything under the sun; “…..A time to keep silence, And a time to speak.” Ecclesiastes 3:7b NKJV.
Merry Christmas Everyone
My Love Always.
Here is a link to one of my favorite Christmas songs; ‘Holy Night‘. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8LuKI7cSkU
‘Could it Have Been a Surrogate Birth’ is one of the most read posts on my blog. It is a Christmas post I published in 2015. Enjoy it
https://graceobomanu.com/could-it-have-been-a-surrogate-birth/
