01-01-24-ENG.

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. "

Matthew 2:10
GO WEST, BOYS

Read It: Matthew 2:7-10
I find it interesting that Herod secretly called the magi and sent them to .Bethlehem to check out this new King. Why didn't he send his own men? They were more dependable than those Eastern "tourists," weren't they? Herod didn't think so. He didn't send the preachers, because he figured ured if they had kept this thing quiet this long, he wasn't going to let them mess up now Besides, as Jews they might not like what he had in mind for this new King. So he sent the magi to Bethlehem. Now we know these men were driven by a passion to worship the true God. As a result, they also enjoyed His guidance. God led them to Jerusalem by means of His star, the Shechinah glory that we read about in the Old-Testament , the brightness of God's glory. Now when they got to Jerusalem, they didn't know where to go from there. So they did the logical thing and started asking around. As we saw yesterday, Herod didn't have a clue, but his court preachers knew where Jesus was from their study of the Scriptures. So God used an ungodly king and ungodly preachers to lead the magi to the next step. There's a great truth here I want you to see. God's guidance is such that if you follow what you do know, He will show you what you don't know until you get where you are supposed to go.

People ask, "How come God won't lead me?" Because you haven't followed lowed Him in His general leading, so He won't give you specifics. The magi started out knowing only that God was telling them, "Go west." So they made their way west. Then all they knew was that they were in the general vicinity of their destination, so they asked questions and got some nifty specifics from Herod's crowd. Then the star led them right to the house. That's specific guidance. It took a lot of faith for the magi to head west. But God sharpened the direction signs each step of the way, and the result was that they experienced the "exceedingly great joy" they anticipated when they left. Think About It God will never show you the specifics of His will if He can't trust you to obey Him in His general will.