Joy To Your World - Children's Advent DevotionalSample

We like to remember the joy surrounding Christmas, so very few Christmas pageants include Herod. It’s Christmas, and we don’t want to remember the fact that someone tried to kill Jesus, an innocent toddler. We don’t want to think about the babies Herod executed because he wanted to remain the king. The story of Christ’s birth speaks of great joy. But, for some, the birth of Jesus caused grief.

When the wise men didn’t return to tell Herod about Jesus, Herod chose to take matters into his own cruel hands. The Bible says, “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men” (Matthew 2:16).

Matthew included this part of the Christmas story in his gospel because it proved that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy from Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more” (Matthew 2:17–18).

Most of us celebrate the season of Christ’s birth with great joy. But it would be wrong to remove Herod from our celebration. We should never forget that there will always be people who want to be powerful, even if it means breaking God’s laws to gain that power.

The magi were powerful kings, but they bowed before Jesus and worshipped him. History reports that Herod spent most of his thirty-three years as a Roman leader fighting people for the recognition and respect he desired. He was so afraid of a new king that he ordered every baby under the age of two to be executed. Herod wanted to make sure the new king didn’t take away his throne.

Christ always had enemies. Most Christians have a few as well. Some people don’t share our beliefs about Christmas and don’t want us to share our beliefs with others. But it’s important to remember that Jesus is our example, not Herod.

Jesus would eventually sacrifice His life for everyone, even His enemies. Jesus didn’t allow His enemies to change His message or His mission. We shouldn’t either. Psalm 27 tells us that God can lift us above our enemies as we joyfully praise Him.

There may always be a Herod or two in our lives, but that’s okay. Jesus is in our lives as well. And, when you read the Bible from beginning to end, you can know that faithful people will always gain heaven. If you are a Christian, the Christmas story doesn’t have an ending.