Daily Devotions
December 23rd, 2014 by Pastor SolleyMatt 2:1-9 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
What made them wise men? First, they had the Word of God because of Daniel in Babylon, read it, and believed it. This morning we see the second step that made them wise men, they acted upon what they believed. There may have been many more who read and studied the same things these men did in Babylon, in the east. But these are the men who not only believed, but acted upon what they believed. How many people can one find today who believe the Bible, yet have no personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ? Remember, the devil also believe the bible and he will spend all eternity in the Lake of Fire. It is not enough to believe the Bible, one needs to act upon the Bible in order to be wise. A few years ago a dear lady in our church gave my wife and myself two Christmas stockings to hang as Christmas decorations. I believed they were a nice gift from the moment we opened them. But soon after we opened them on Christmas Day we placed them back in the box she had them in and left them until the next year. When we opened them the following year and examined them more closely before hanging them up we found $50 tucked inside both stockings. You see we believed they were a nice gift, but we never really examined them closely, never reached inside, and the gift was lost for a year. Had we never used them the gift would have been lost forever. It is like that with the Bible, one can read it, believe it, and then lose what is being offered to them because they never act upon it. A wise man will not only believe, a wise man will act.