THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever had to run away from something dangerous?
READ TOGETHER.
Matthew 2:1-12. 13Now when [the Wise Men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Usually when we think about baby Jesus we imagine him all snuggled up in those swaddling clothes lying in the manger. Maybe we even see him being presented with gifts from the Wise Men. Both of these are happy and peaceful pictures.
But Matthew’s gospel describes one of the scariest and saddest stories in the life of Jesus. It happened right after the Wise Men left to go back home. Look at verse thirteen again. An angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and run away because Herod, the king, is going to search for the child to destroy him.
King Herod was jealous. Do you know what jealous means? It means you want what someone else has. Herod didn’t like that people were worshiping this new baby king. And he definitely didn’t want to give up his place on the throne to some little boy from Bethlehem. Have you ever been jealous like Herod? Have you ever hated the idea of someone else getting the praise that you think you deserve?
Well Herod was so angry and jealous that he decided to try to kill Jesus. But God protected Jesus didn’t he? God used an angel to tell Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt, out of harm’s way. And God used Joseph to protect Jesus and get him from Bethlehem to Egypt where he would be safe.
Did you know that God is protecting you too? When you are connected to Jesus you are always protected by God. That doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen to you or that things will always be easy. Just like Jesus, you may need to run away from something bad. But it does mean that you are never outside of God’s plan. When hard things happen, like having to move, or having to face angry people, God is always with us.
When we have faith in Jesus he lives in our hearts. Jesus protects our hearts from jealousy and anger. How? By reminding us that he loves us no matter what. When you know that you are loved by God and cared for by God, you don’t ever have to be jealous of others like Herod was. You don’t ever have to just protect yourself like Herod tried to do, instead you can protect others like Joseph did when he protected Jesus.
Does Jesus live in your heart? Are you letting him protect you from being jealous and angry? Why not ask him to do that for you today and every day?
Because of Jesus living in our hearts, we don’t have to be jealous.
With Jesus we can protect others and not just ourselves.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Have each person in your family tell a story about a time they were jealous. Ask: What did your jealousy make you do?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, show me where I have been jealous and angry lately. Let your love for me help me to protect others and not just myself. Amen.
TLICfamily 