Time For A Change
by Philip Asselin
As I was going through the story of the birth of Jesus, I began to look more closely at some of the interactions that are recorded. One that stands out for me was the Magi arriving at King Herod’s palace declaring they had come in search of the Messiah – the new King of the Jews. Herod, keen to deal with any potential rival, enquires of his Jewish chief priests and teachers as to where the Messiah would be born. When asked, they had no problem in identifying what the Scriptures had foretold. “He would be born in Bethlehem”, they all agreed.
Their subsequent response to this surprised me. They had been asked about it by King Herod. They had seen the Magi and heard of their long journey from Babylon, following a star in the sky to visit this new-born king. Yet, it seems they made no effort to go to Bethlehem to see for themselves. I find that astonishing that they just don’t seem to be at all bothered to make the effort. They had heard the good news and did nothing. They were deaf, dumb, and blind to God’s word.
I then began to wonder how much like them I can be. I’ve been a Christian for fifty years, but there are still many times when I can be too obstinate, too focussed on other things to take note of what God is trying to tell me or show me. Too many times I have been reading God’s word and found something that puzzled me or piqued my interest, but then didn’t follow through and go and find out more. There have also been times when I have ignored God’s gentle voice seeking to point out a problem, or sin in my life - times when I have been deaf, dumb, and blind to what God is doing.
But I have decided to seek to do things differently from now on, with God’s help, I want to seek to listen more closely to Him, and not dismiss things He is trying to tell me that I don’t like and don’t really want to hear. I want to stop glossing over passages in the Bible that I find puzzling or challenging and, instead, to seek to understand more about them. Effectively, I want to not be like the chief priests and teachers of the law in Herod’s court, and actually seek out the One who came to die for my sins.
Philip Asselin Philip is on the associate ministry and teaching teams with Glyndley Manor. He and his wife Gillian attended the second Healing Retreat at Glyndley Manor in 1992, and were greatly helped. They have two grown up children, one grandson, and a step-granddaughter in California, and a daughter and granddaughter in Eastbourne. His desire is to see people healed and set free to serve God.
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