Living for Good not for Evil

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LIVING FOR GOOD NOT FOR EVIL

Matt 2:7-12

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

NIV

Now it is time to look at the story of Herod. We could spend a great deal of time as to all the Herods that have been king, and how each of them served, whether they were good or evil. This Herod was evil all the way. How deceptive he was, pretending that he would want to worship this king of the Jews when all he wanted was the location so that he could send his army to murder this little child because he would be a threat to his rule over Judea. How wealth and power, which usually go hand in glove, can corrupt a man’s heart. Jesus made it clear the man cannot serve both God and wealth, although the word was money, however, the Greek word is of Aramaic origin and it means confident i.e. wealth personified. That describes the life of Herod to a tee, as he lived as any king would, in the abundance of wealth. Jesus also said that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When we put our trust in money, we become too close to the culture of the world, storing up wealth for self-gratification. What security should we place our trust in? It would make perfect sense to put all our trust in God, but we also want to make sure we have enough money so that someday, at whatever age we decide, we can stop working and do nothing, but that which pleases our own interests. That really sounds bizarre when we put it in words. Herod had no intentions of giving up his kingdom, his wealth, his power to some upstart kid that was supposed to be the new king of the Jews. He was even plotting evil because his own interests were at stake. We wonder if because of the words of Jesus, which Matthew recorded for us as we will get to in chapter 6, that if we place too much of our trust in money that it is evil because we are being too concerned about our own interests. Even this whole idea of storing up for our retirement is a culture-driven concept, rather than a God-driven one. We merely have to search the words of Jesus to find all the references to the evil of trusting in wealth and storing it up. What are we supposed to do? Is retirement culture or God-based? Did not God tell Adam he had to work by the sweat of his brow all the days of his life? What does that mean? Are we exempt from that because we no longer are a descendent of Adam, but now a descendent of who, Abraham? He had wealth, but he was required to offer his only son to God, and he was going to do it because he trusted God more than all his wealth. It just seems we may have this concept of money all wrong, or maybe it does not matter at all if we are willing to give it all to the Lord, and not keep it selfishly for our own interests. Herod was always looking out for his own interests and that made him evil in the sight of God. Let us look past the cultural influences on our lives and seek first the kingdom of God. That is we need to put the kingdom of God first, above all else in our lives and He will take care of us. Then we will live for good and not for evil.