Every child knows that Herod is the great villain in the Christmas story.  They know it was not the truth when he said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him” (Mt 2:8).  Herod saw Christ as the rival King.  He wanted to find Him under the pretense of worship.  He really wanted to kill Him.  Herod missed getting Him as a child, but Caesar’s empire succeeded in getting Him as an adult.  May we never doubt that we are playing the part of Herod when we do not yield to Jesus’ total lordship in our lives, even while we are pretending we want to worship Him.  Unless we want Jesus to be king in place of us, our worship is mere pretense.