Reason #662
I have a confession to make. I have been listening to Christmas music in the car. It happened a few days ago. I was skipping through my CD's when I realized I had left a Christmas CD in one of the slots. I couldn't stop it once it started. I listened to the whole CD, probably at least 3 times by now. There's just something about Christmas music that lifts my spirits and makes me happy. I do hate to take away from Thanksgiving, but a little Christmas music never hurt anything.
One of my favorite Christmas songs on the CD is by Chris August, and he talks about the miracle of Jesus' birth. In part of the song, he makes a comment about the angel visiting Joseph in a dream to let him know of this miracle. The lyrics say, "Then in a dream an angel came and said Joseph, you should marry Mary."
I sang these lyrics on the way back to work this afternoon, and it hit me for the first time. Should. Joseph, you should. Notice it doesn't say, "Joseph, you have no other choice but to marry Mary." No, it says should, as in "you have the choice to do what you want but I'd encourage you do go through with it." Because, as you all know, this wasn't Joseph's biological child. Truth be told, up until this point, it had seemed like a really far fetched story to him, I'm sure. And so here Joseph stands at a fork in the road. He is free to make any choice he'd like. He can choose to walk away from Mary, or he can choose to keep his promise to marry her. He can choose to have her killed for having someone else's baby, or he can choose to believe what the angel said and take good care of Mary so that this baby can save the world. Joseph's hands aren't tied. God isn't forcing him one way or another or even making him do something he doesn't want to. Joseph has free will to choose what he wants to do, and thank goodness that he didn't take what seemed to be the easy road.
Marriage is hard, right? Especially just starting out. While the newlywed stage is sweet, it's also difficult. Because all of the sudden you're spending an incredible amount of time with another person. You're having to bend and change. You're getting to know new things about them, some of which causes conflict. You're having to learn to be selfless and compliant and forgiving. And if that weren't enough, throw a baby in the mix. Now, you're having to deal with a little selfish person who can't do anything for themselves. Someone who is totally and completely dependent on you for everything but breath. This isn't the easiest road. It would seem easier for Joseph to just say, "Forget it. That's not my baby, and I'm not taking care of it. You're the one responsible for this so you can just deal with it on your own. I'm moving on to something easier." But what if Joseph had done that? What if Joseph had left Mary with the chore of birthing and raising the Messiah all on her own? Well, the truth is, even if he would have left, Jesus would have still come. Jesus' arrival wasn't contingent on the fact that he had to have an earthly mother and father raise him. But had Joseph not listened to the wisdom of the angel, he would have missed out on experiencing the most incredible blessing of his life. He would have missed out on having a significant role in this amazing miracle of redemption. Joseph would have missed out on getting to be a part of something that God was going to use to change the entire world.
Sometimes in life it's really tempting to take the easy way out. And, frankly, we have the option to do that. God never forces us into or out of a decision. He let's us freely decide what we want to do. He has a plan, and He is faithful to guide us in the right direction, but we have to listen to Him. And, more than that, we have to believe Him. We have to trust what He is asking us to do even if it seems really difficult, scary, or far fetched. Because if we choose otherwise, who knows what we'll miss out on. Who knows what miracle we are walking away from. Who knows what incredible plan God has in store that He wants us to be a part of.
Jesus was going to come either way, that was the plan. Mary was all in, and Joseph had a once in a lifetime chance to be all in with her, too. Don't you know he was glad he listened. Don't you know he was glad he did the right thing rather than the easy thing. Because this wasn't going to ever happen again. This was it, and this was the only chance he was going to get at raising the Messiah. The same goes for you. This may be it, this may be your one shot. It might not make sense, it may not be what you imagined, but if the Lord is giving you the opportunity, you should do it.
#662 - Because He gives us the opportunity to be a part of life changing miracles!
"This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” - Matthew 1:18-21
One of my favorite Christmas songs on the CD is by Chris August, and he talks about the miracle of Jesus' birth. In part of the song, he makes a comment about the angel visiting Joseph in a dream to let him know of this miracle. The lyrics say, "Then in a dream an angel came and said Joseph, you should marry Mary."
I sang these lyrics on the way back to work this afternoon, and it hit me for the first time. Should. Joseph, you should. Notice it doesn't say, "Joseph, you have no other choice but to marry Mary." No, it says should, as in "you have the choice to do what you want but I'd encourage you do go through with it." Because, as you all know, this wasn't Joseph's biological child. Truth be told, up until this point, it had seemed like a really far fetched story to him, I'm sure. And so here Joseph stands at a fork in the road. He is free to make any choice he'd like. He can choose to walk away from Mary, or he can choose to keep his promise to marry her. He can choose to have her killed for having someone else's baby, or he can choose to believe what the angel said and take good care of Mary so that this baby can save the world. Joseph's hands aren't tied. God isn't forcing him one way or another or even making him do something he doesn't want to. Joseph has free will to choose what he wants to do, and thank goodness that he didn't take what seemed to be the easy road.
Marriage is hard, right? Especially just starting out. While the newlywed stage is sweet, it's also difficult. Because all of the sudden you're spending an incredible amount of time with another person. You're having to bend and change. You're getting to know new things about them, some of which causes conflict. You're having to learn to be selfless and compliant and forgiving. And if that weren't enough, throw a baby in the mix. Now, you're having to deal with a little selfish person who can't do anything for themselves. Someone who is totally and completely dependent on you for everything but breath. This isn't the easiest road. It would seem easier for Joseph to just say, "Forget it. That's not my baby, and I'm not taking care of it. You're the one responsible for this so you can just deal with it on your own. I'm moving on to something easier." But what if Joseph had done that? What if Joseph had left Mary with the chore of birthing and raising the Messiah all on her own? Well, the truth is, even if he would have left, Jesus would have still come. Jesus' arrival wasn't contingent on the fact that he had to have an earthly mother and father raise him. But had Joseph not listened to the wisdom of the angel, he would have missed out on experiencing the most incredible blessing of his life. He would have missed out on having a significant role in this amazing miracle of redemption. Joseph would have missed out on getting to be a part of something that God was going to use to change the entire world.
Sometimes in life it's really tempting to take the easy way out. And, frankly, we have the option to do that. God never forces us into or out of a decision. He let's us freely decide what we want to do. He has a plan, and He is faithful to guide us in the right direction, but we have to listen to Him. And, more than that, we have to believe Him. We have to trust what He is asking us to do even if it seems really difficult, scary, or far fetched. Because if we choose otherwise, who knows what we'll miss out on. Who knows what miracle we are walking away from. Who knows what incredible plan God has in store that He wants us to be a part of.
Jesus was going to come either way, that was the plan. Mary was all in, and Joseph had a once in a lifetime chance to be all in with her, too. Don't you know he was glad he listened. Don't you know he was glad he did the right thing rather than the easy thing. Because this wasn't going to ever happen again. This was it, and this was the only chance he was going to get at raising the Messiah. The same goes for you. This may be it, this may be your one shot. It might not make sense, it may not be what you imagined, but if the Lord is giving you the opportunity, you should do it.
#662 - Because He gives us the opportunity to be a part of life changing miracles!
"This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” - Matthew 1:18-21
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