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Joseph and Mary humbly welcomed Jesus and rearranged their lives to become His parents.  They saw Him as Someone to surrender to. The shepherds enthusiastically embraced His birth as Good News.  They saw Him as Someone to talk about to everyone they met!  The Wise Men revered Him and presented Him with gifts.  They saw Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, worthy of their worship.  Simeon and Anna confirmed Him as the Messiah.  They saw Him as the One Scripture had prophesied would come. But Herod?  He was hostile towards Jesus. He wouldn’t give Him a chance.  Herod died an unchanged, unloved, lonely miserable man.   

Many in our world are hostile towards Jesus. Like Herod, many won’t accept Jesus. Many see Jesus as a threat and reject Him to do life on their own.  We see how well that is working out in our world today, don’t we?  So many are living miserable, broken and lonely lives.  Think about how different Herod’s life could have been if he could have seen Jesus for who He was and opened his heart to him.

Every one of us has to decide what will occupy the throne of our hearts.  Will it be self or will it be the Son of God?  What we live for is determined by what we see when we look at Jesus. How do you see Him?  Is the Holy Spirit revealing to you that He is, in fact, the Messiah?  Do you recognize Him as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as Someone who is worthy of your worship?  Does your life reflect that you believe it to be true?  Is He Someone you are talking about on a regular basis with people who don’t know Him like you do?  Have you surrendered every area of your life to Him or are you still trying to exercise control over your own life?  Have you closed your heart and mind to the reality that Jesus has come for you, not to take life from you, but to give you life, the best life, a life you could never possess on your own?

Maybe you aren’t like Herod, seeking power, control or the things of this world.  Maybe you can’t see Jesus for other reasons.  Maybe because of the darkness of the world around us, the pandemic, the political division and corruption, the stressful education circumstances, the economic uncertainties…it’s all too much and you can’t see Jesus.  When you can’t see Jesus, you have to trust His Word, friends.  His Word will not fail.  God will bring you through and will give you the ability to see Him, like He did for Simeon and Anna, if you will hope in His Word as they did.  They lived in a dark time, but they held onto the Word of God and it got them through.

Maybe you can’t see Him because you just feel like you are too far away.  Like the Wise Men, you are living in another “country,” another reality, far away from spiritual pursuits or truths.  You aren’t sure if you have what it takes to get there, the energy or even the desire to make the journey.  Press on.  Don’t miss seeing Jesus because it might take some effort to take steps towards Him.  The Wise Men would have missed Christmas entirely had they not made the trip.  Maybe you can’t see Him because you don’t see yourself correctly.  Maybe you view yourself like a lowly shepherd, like someone no one would want to be close to or someone no one could truly love.  The shepherds were living a pretty sad and depressing life.  No one but other shepherds would have anything to do with them.  Maybe you can’t see Jesus because it’s hard for you to believe that someone would love you so much that they would want to be close to you and share life with you, the way Jesus wants to.  Maybe you can’t see Jesus you weren’t raised to know God like Joseph and Mary were.  You weren’t raised to understand how God works and you aren’t sure you can trust Him.    

This Christmas, look at Jesus.  Look at Him with an open mind and heart, and ask Him to help you see Him, to help you acknowledge His real identity and to surrender completely to His desires for your life.

James 5:14-16 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint
John 8:1-11 1Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the
Jesus prayed a lot. Prayer was routine for Jesus. Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”