Matthew 2:13-16 (NLT)
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.
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Herod’s evil search and attempt to assassinate the Christ Child that resulted in the massacre of countless young children and infants is memorialized by many Easter and Western churches on December 28 or 29 as the Day of the Innocent. In truth, they were the Christianity’s first martyrs. Herod’s vile actions in those dark days serve as a stark reminder of the extent to which the enemy of our souls will go to prevent God’s redemptive purposes from being fulfilled on Earth.
Today, the world is ensnared in another kind of evil darkness which is more sinister and more overt with every passing day, in which the same devil is trying his best to snuff out the only flame of hope and salvation for this broken and confused world. Just like in those days, satan is trying to kill, steal and destroy.
In these days, it will become more and more critical for us to become like Mary and Joseph––vigilant to hear the voice of God and ready do what we are told. It will not be enough to lean on our own understanding. Rather we will need to make sure we acknowledge God in all our ways, so that He can direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
So put your life in the hands of God so that no power of darkness will harm you. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey / for there’s no other way / to be happy in Jesus / but to trust and obey.” The Lord has a very different and most powerful plan for your life, for your family and for your nation.
You may want to pray a prayer something like this: Father God, I confess today that I can feel the weight of an ominous darkness encroaching on my life, I but I believe and declare that there is a more powerful plan from Heaven for my life to overcome the darkness. That is why now I entrust myself into Your hands. Deliver me from all evil and the hand of the evil one. Bless my home and my household. Touch and heal our nation. I ask it all in the name of Jesus, Amen!
Have a blessed day!
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