12/19/2019
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The
angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Listen
carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you
shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and eminent and will be called the
Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob
(Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke
1:30-33
As
one looks around the world we live in today, they will see many leaders who
have been in power for years and those who have only been in a position of
power for a short time. How many of leaders today will still be in power a year
from now, even 5 years from now? One can only imagine what will bring them
down, because history has shown that even the greatest of the world leaders
eventually fall.
When
Gabriel came to Mary, he proclaimed to her that Jesus was going to be a ruler.
But He was going to be a very different kind of ruler since He would reign over
all creation and His kingdom would never end.
When Jesus was born, Herod
was King of Judea. Like other kings, he expected (and even demanded) that his
subjects submit to him. Herod used secret police to monitor and report
the feelings of the general populace towards him. He sought to prohibit
protests, and had opponents removed by force. He had a bodyguard of 2,000
soldiers. Sounds a lot like leaders we read about in our history books {Hitler,
and even some of the tactics this current administration has tried to pull
off}.
But Jesus is not that kind of a king. He does
not impose His will or force us to submit to Him. Rather, we must determine on
our own to obey Him. We must of our own free will, we must declare that He is
Lord.
Every day, He gives us
choices. He looks for people who will submit their lives to Him, serve Him
willingly, seek first His Kingdom, and let Him be their Lord. Those who chose
to submit their lives will be rewarded by the God of all creation {Matthew
6:33, James
4:7-10}.
Today, remember that Jesus is
not just the baby whose birth people celebrate during the Pagan Christmas
season. He is your King! You have the privilege of being part of His Kingdom!
Serve Him! Worship Him! Declare Him the Lord of your life!
In Depth Reading
Blessings and Peace,
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