Day 30: Herod kills the young children of Bethlehem
Read Matthew 2:16-18

Herod, realizing the Wise Men were not returning to him as he had commanded, sent his personal soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children two years old and under in the entire village.

Our cry is often how a God who is love could allow such a horrible thing to happen to people who have done nothing wrong. The children were innocent. Most of the parents may have heard the shepherds’ news, but probably had done nothing about it. Why should such evil be allowed to happen?

Christmas is the only answer God could give to the evil mankind had chosen, and still chooses each day. One man chooses to kill someone for their money, and the victim’s family is devastated. One mother chooses to use drugs or alcohol while she is pregnant, and the baby will be scarred in some way for the rest of their life. I choose to tell a little lie to save face with someone, and a trust I have worked long and hard to build is broken. There are consequences to every sin, and the penalty for every sin is death. One day God will demand that penalty be paid in full – we can either choose to accept Jesus’ offer of the death He already paid for each of us, or we can choose to ignore Jesus and pay our own price. Peace with God has been made possible through the promised Messiah who had been born, Jesus.

*How is peace with God demonstrated in your life today?