Top X July 19, 2025 Devotional
July 19, 2025
MATTHEW 2:16-18 | 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 'A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.'
Every life has inestimable value and the loss of a life is an inestimable loss. But murder includes not only the loss of a life but consequent harms that flow from this loss. The person who dies was part of a network of relationships. The victim was someone's daughter or son, and parents are damaged deeply by the loss of children they've loved and nurtured from birth. A victim might have siblings, a spouse, or children. Individuals are harmed, along with families and communities. How do we calculate the pain or impact of growing up without a parent, for instance, and the secondary effects of that absence. Thus losses can have serious reverberations and real consequences in the lives of those connected to the victim or victims.
The beautiful birth story of Jesus is accompanied by the chilling account of Herod's brutal “murder of the innocents.” The Bible faces evil squarely and honestly.
Have you known anyone impacted by murder? Pray for the Clark family who’s son Ethan was recently murdered.
Gracious God,
Restrain those who’s anger or jealousy leads to violence. Help us to be peacemakers who resist and restrain evil, while promoting life.
Amen.
