Seek and You Will Find

0:00Day 274, or October 1st, seek and you will find. Our thoughts today are rooted in Matthew chapter 2 verse 1. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Meejai, Wise Men, from the East, came to Jerusalem. Another big picture surrounding this verse. Matthew gives us one of the two biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus. The other one is in Luke. Matthew is writing primarily for a Jewish readership, and it is therefore not surprising to learn that he concentrates on the visit of the ancient Kingmakers, the Meejai. Matthew's major theme is to declare Jesus as King of the Jews, and the Meejai's visit underpins this. The Meejai had great influence, and it is therefore understandable that King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard of their

1:00visit, as was everyone else in Jerusalem. Herod was afraid he would lose his throne, and as he was a ruthless ruler the people were frightened too, because they knew he would stop at nothing to keep in power and would brutally destroy any potential rivals. They were quite right too, as he ordered the killing of all male children who were two years in younger. Nevertheless, God's Messiah had arrived, and nothing Herod or anyone else could do would change that, and Matthew relates how Jesus matured to ultimately become the redeeming sacrifice for our salvation. And now today's action step. Only Matthew tells us about the Meejai, who we often call the wise men, and who the hymn writer John Hopkins claimed to be kings in his hymn We Three Kings, written in 1857. They had looked for him in their astrological charts. A

2:05place I would warn people not to consult, in line with Isaiah chapter 47 verses 13 and 14, but they finally found him in Bethlehem. They were looking in the wrong place, but God honoured his promise of seek me and you will find me. Isn't it great to know that we don't have to be clever enough to always know where to look? If we earnestly seek God, he will let us find him. So keep looking.