Given December 25, 2013 
As we contemplate the just-past Christmas season and look forward to a new year, there are some things we need to think about. We look back in history and read that King Herod heard about this baby that had been born and the prophecy and belief that he was to be a new king. King Herod was worried and all of Jerusalem with him, (Matthew 2:3). Why was a king worried about a little baby? It was because he had heard the talk about this baby and believed it; this baby was going to grow up to be a king. That would infringe on Herod’s territory and he couldn’t allow another king to do that. So how did he deal with his problem? We shudder at his plan to remove this new king from the territory and condemn him for what he did; he ordered all Jewish boys in the area under two years old to be killed! That would surely include this Jesus baby! How awful for someone to go to those lengths to remove Jesus from society.
But…look at what is happening in our society today. Many people want to take God out of the classroom, the courtroom, the Congress, out of the media, and remove His name, His influence, and His authority from all public life. And could it be that our private lives are next? Why? They say it’s to prevent anyone from being offended but consider this; when you do away with God, there’s no higher power than yourself, so you get to play God! Isn’t that what the Babylonians did, in Genesis 11:1-9 they said, “let us build ourselves a city…so that we can make a name for ourselves“. They wanted to do away with God so they could call the shots. Does this sound familiar? The prophet Jeremiah told the people what God said, “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me–the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” (Jeremiah 2:13). They had done away with God and did things for themselves. It’s happening in our country now.
What can be done about it? The recent flap over Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson gives us some insight to the solution. The liberal, Babylonian-thinking, segment of our society wanted to punish Phil over his beliefs stated in a magazine interview. “The people” reacted in vast numbers to support Phil’s beliefs and A&E and Cracker Barrel backtracked on their actions. The people stopped sitting on their beliefs, spoke up en mass and made a difference. In the Bible, when the church leaders wanted to silence Jesus for a parable He told which referred to them, they wouldn’t do anything because they were afraid of “the people”, (Mark 12:12). Oh that “the people” would have such an influence in our day!
King Herod wanted to get rid of Jesus so he could have control. The Babylonians wanted to do things for themselves. The Jewish leaders wanted to run religion their way. We know what happened in each of these situations; God was supreme and His word won out. Jesus’ first coming was foretold and came about to the letter just as it had been predicted and every prophecy concerning His second coming will come to pass too. Do you want to get rid of Jesus? If not, stand up and say so!