Herod The Great

Herod the Great accomplished many things during his 40 years as a Roman Jewish king. He became known as a colossal builder. Including a palace, fortresses, and other public buildings. He even rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. He was a close friend to many of the leaders in Rome. These connections helped him gain power. He and his family would later become part of the Christmas story.

History will remember the world basically being shut down during the spring of 2020 due to a pandemic. Because of the slowdown in the economy, materials and help were immediately available. We hired a crew of young ex-Amish folks to build a shed across the road. We are still friends with many of those fellows today.

Rudy and Toby from that same crew later attended and graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Today they are both police officers in small southern Iowa towns. We had a last minute conflict and regretted missing Toby's graduation party yesterday. However isn't it amazing what folks remember as crisis in history is just another day in God's plan for all our lives? Thanks for the picture Rudy and family.

Early last week Dean, I, and an assortment of grandkids including John, Ezra, Elijah, and Elliot chiseled a farm on the north edge of Ottumwa. Layton, Alex, Karl, and Kurt, worked on applying NH3 for next years corn crop in other areas.

Then later in the week, winter came with snow, ice, and single digit temps, stopping field work. However Mike continues to run dozer, and BJ and John continue to tile.

On one of the cold days Kurt built himself a snow pusher. Karl and Malaki have been selling fat hogs. Jim and others continue to haul grain. Karl and I continue to work with farmers on seed appointments.

2000 years ago Herod the Great's accomplishments led to self-confidence. Self confidence led to self-centeredness. Self-centeredness led to pride and wanting power. Power hungry folks feel uncomfortable unless they are in control. So when the wisemen stopped to ask him where the new King of the Jews was born, Herod felt threatened. He killed baby boys in Bethlehem. His son, also King Herod in the New Testament, had John the Baptist killed. And was part of Jesus' crucifixion. His grandson, King Agrippa, was also part of Biblical history during the apostle Paul's life. All of their families were a mess with many killing each other.

God bypassed the proud and powerful, and used small towns and common ordinary people to accomplish His purpose that first Christmas. He does the same today. So how are we to fight the temptation of pride? We pray for help. We give God the credit for our accomplishments. And we consider others more important than ourselves. I know, easier said than done. Blessings.