Corona Devo 1389

Jesus is born.  (While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, (7) and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.   ~Luke 2:6-7)

The wise men follow a star and come seeking him. 

They accidentally tell and ask King Herod about Jesus.  

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him  ~Matthew 2:3

(Disturbed = experiencing or exhibiting emotional disturbance or agitation/characterized or affected by interference, alteration, or disruption.  ~Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Can we imagine?  People being disturbed about Jesus? 

    The coming reality of Him...

    The unexplainable about Him...

    The faith required to follow Him... 

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him  ~Matthew 2:3

Can we imagine people and leaders being disturbed in hearing about Jesus?    

Of course we can.  

Nothing's changed.  People are still disturbed by Jesus, and we know it.

It's why we don't we bring up Jesus in conversations at work, with our neighbors, at parties, or on the sidelines.

Jesus disturbs us.

Jesus disturbs our sin patterns.

Jesus disturbs our apathy.

Jesus disturbs our self-focus and self-pity.  

Jesus doesn't align with any of that...and so He is disturbing. 

What will we do with the news of Jesus?  

Why aren't our churches filled? Why aren't our school Bible-study groups standing room only?  

Why aren't we bursting at the seams to tell everyone we meet about Jesus Christ? 

Because Jesus disturbs our lives of ease and forces us to take the focus off of us and to put it on Him because He loves us too much to leave us in our sin and sin-patterns and our lostness. 

Jesus was born to save us from all of that, and in order to get-to-work on our nitty-gritty, He has to disturb us from the world's patterns.

But we must choose to accept His divine disturbance and to know that the rattling that Christ causes within our hearts and minds is for our good and for His glory.  

King Herod...and all Jerusalem with him wanted nothing to do with that.  They liked living in their own little worlds.

But Jesus is not of this world.  (And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.  ~John 8:23).

Jesus disturbs everything our world and people hold dear: 

  • Money: Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”  ~Mark 10:21  
  • Family: He said to another man, “Follow me.”  But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  (60) Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  (61) Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”  (62) Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  ~Luke 9:59-62
  • Life: Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.  ~Matthew 10:38-40

It's no wonder that King Herod...and all Jerusalem with him had no wonder about Jesus!  

But...do we?

Are we wise men and women today? 

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose 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, frankincense and myrrh. 

(12) And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.  ~Matthew 2:1-12

Jesus will disturb our lives, our plans, our comforts and our sin.  

Will we bow down and worship him with our lives anyway?  

Will we open our hearts to Him today?  Will we open our treasures to Him?  Will we present Him with our gifts?

Don't be disturbed by Jesus, be devoted. 

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com 

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