25 July - Matthew 2

We’re continuing Matthew today, chapter 2. Below are a few things to think about from this chapter:

1. Matthew tells us how wise people from far away lands had been watching for a king to be born who would lead God’s people. When Jesus was born they saw the sign they’d been looking for a star in the night sky. They set out to find him and asked a local political leader, King Herod, where to find Jesus but he didn’t know. 
2. When they finally found Jesus they bowed down and worshipped him and presented his parents with all sorts of gifts. Then an angel told Joseph to take his family to Egypt because King Herod would be trying to kill Jesus; because he was worried Jesus would take over his kingship. Joseph kept his family in Egypt until Herod died and then he returned to Nazareth. 
3. All this drama in the beginning of Jesus life was crazy but it also answered a lot of the prophecies God gave to men hundreds of years before Jesus was born. God gave these prophecies so the Jewish people could identify their messiah without any doubts.

Did you know that people were watching for the birth of Jesus who didn’t even live in his area? And isn’t it awesome that God gave tons of proofs in advance for the Jewish people to know that Jesus was really sent from God? The sad part is that many of them ignored them because had different ideas of what Jesus would be like. Honestly, today we still have preconceived notions of how we expect God to act and so we miss out on a lot about God. Ask God to help you learn to know him for real; without any of your own thoughts or opinions projected onto him.