What's Your Reaction to Jesus?

Tuesday, November 11th, 2025

5:10 pm

Good afternoon! Today I was in Matthew 2:1-12. Here Matthew is telling us about the wise men that went to see Jesus. This was during the reign of King Herod. Matthew tells us that the wise men were from eastern lands, but he doesn't say exactly where. When they arrived in Jerusalem they began asking the people around where the newborn King of the Jews was. Telling the people that they saw His star as it rose, and that they had come to worship Him. King Herod heard about this, and he became "deeply disturbed" as was everyone in Jerusalem. King Herod sent for the leading priests and teachers of religious law, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They quoted him Micah 5:2, which says a ruler would come from Bethlehem, who would be the shepherd for the Lord's people, Israel. Then he called for a private meeting with the wise men, and learned from them when the star first appeared. Then he told them to go out and find the baby, then come back and tell him where the baby was so he could go worship him too. The wise men went on their way, continuing to follow the star, until it stopped over the place where Jesus was with His mother. When they saw the star they were filled with joy. They bowed down and worship Him, then gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. When they left to return home, they went a different route because the Lord had warned them ,through a dream, not to return to Herod.

So Good! I know I say that a lot, but honestly the Word of God is amazing to me and exciting. So I will probably say that about every time, because God is so awesome. Again, we get another set of people, that the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to guide. We don't know where these men were from, or what they were doing when they saw the star appear. We can be assured though, that the Holy Spirit was guiding them to follow the star, because we know that God is the one that calls each of us to follow Him. We see that all through the Word of God. Then, as soon as they saw Jesus, they were filled with joy, and they began worshiping him, and gave Him gifts. Then the Lord gave them a dream warning them not to go back to King Herod, and they obeyed every step of the way.

The star was a miraculous sign, and they started following it immediately knowing it was significant, maybe just curious, either way they stopped whatever they were doing to follow it. Interesting to me, that not just the king was disturbed by this but so were the people in the town. Jesus has that affect on people today. You are either excited about Jesus and what He came for or you are disturbed by what that could mean for your life.

Jesus appears in our lives in so many different ways. Sometimes it's very subtle and other times it is a major miracle that you could never deny that it had to be God. Everyone's story of when Jesus entered their lives is different. But one thing for sure, is that He meets you right where you are, especially if you are in a very low point in your life. Don't ever think that it has to be some big miracle for God to appear. If you do that you put God in a box that He could never be limited to, but it does limit what He can do in your life because you are not giving Him the space that He needs. Then when He does appear, like the king and the other people, you might be very disturbed or scared. But here is the thing, you don't have to be scared or disturbed, because He came to earth for every single person, including you.

How have you responded to God in your life? Were you like the wise men that stopped what they were doing to be obedient and follow the direction the Lord was showing them? Or are you scared of what God would say to you?

I feel like we all struggle with this at some point in our lives. There has been plenty of times in my life that I have been scared to follow the Lord, so I didn't step out when He told me to. There has also been times in my life that I felt ashamed, that God could not want someone like me or use someone like me. Then there have been times that I did step out like He guided me to that scared me. Each and every time, God met me where I was. He kept encouraging me and giving me the strength I needed to get through each time. For me now, spending time with God in His Word, praying, and worshiping is a life line for me. Everyday He shows me something new, or changes my perspective. He is constantly growing me and guiding me.

And He can do the same for you, no matter where you are in life.