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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me remember that, when I make a New Year's resolution, I have to do the work to make the change I want to see in myself! Amen.

After Jesus was born, wise men came to Jerusalem from the East. They asked King Herod, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw His star and came to worship Him." Worried about this "new king," Herod said, "When you find Him, tell me." The wise men found Jesus with His parents and gave Him gifts, but they were warned in a dream not to tell Herod, so they went back to their own country.

You know what the problem with New Year's resolutions is? After making the decision about how you want to change, you actually have to do the work to make that change happen!

It would be so much easier if you could get someone to do the work for you. Just ask Herod, the king that the wise men meet in this week's Gospel (Mt 2:1-12).

The wise men heard about Jesus being born and wanted to see Him -- so, they packed their bags, got some gifts for the new baby, left their country and traveled on camels for days and days until they got to the right city. Then they asked King Herod for directions on how to find Jesus.

The wise men had done all that work; they deserved to meet the baby Jesus and His parents, Mary and Joseph. Herod, on the other hand, was lazy. He wanted the others to go find Jesus and just let Herod know where Jesus was.

Plus, Herod didn't even want to meet the baby because he believed Jesus was God and wanted to worship Him. Herod wanted to kill Jesus so he didn't have competition to be king!

Making the promise of a New Year's resolution is easy. Doing the work is hard. Herod wanted others to do his work for him. Like a resolution, finding Jesus is something people have to do for themselves.

The wise men were truly wise, because they went and found Jesus on their own and didn't tell Herod anything. They weren't going to do Herod's work for him![[In-content Ad]]

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