Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Matthew 1:18-25
What It Says: The birth of Jesus came about as His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary was then found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Since Joseph was a righteous man and did not want Mary to be publicly disgraced, he was going to divorce her quietly. But soon after considering this, an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid and to take Mary as his wife. He told Joseph that the child conceived is of the Holy Spirit and she will give birth to the one who will free them from their sins. His name is to be Jesus.
All of this took place to fulfill the prophecy that said a virgin will be with child and he is to be named Immanuel – “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as commanded and took Mary to be his wife. There was no union with Mary until after the birth of their son, Jesus.
What I Think: Can you imagine calling your fiancé on the phone tonight and hearing that she is pregnant? Especially, since you know that you two have not had sex and that there is no way in the world this kid is yours. She tells you an angel came to her and said she would be with child of the Holy Spirit. What do you think your response would be? I know for a fact I would be outraged and not believe a single word.
This was Joseph’s response and he was ready to leave her quietly and respectfully to keep her name from getting smeared any further or worse she could have been stoned. God understood how this must have felt and decided to send the same angel to Joseph. Joseph still could have easily walked away but he didn’t. He took a leap of faith as commanded to him and in turn raised God. What an honor! That is definitely a just reward for their leap of faith. Is there an area in your life where God is asking you to take a leap of faith?
Matthew 15:11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’
Matthew 15:7-11
What It Says: “Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’”
What I Think: So many of us have skepticisms and rules of how we are supposed to worship the Lord. If someone does it differently than you, they are clearly wrong. This is a horrible perspective to possess. I like to liken religion to football. I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and have been since birth. You may dislike the Steelers but still love football. The same goes for all the different denominations. We all may wear different jerseys but on game day we are playing the same game.
The bad part is we root against the other teams to lose. What happens when we carry this over to religion? We end up quarreling with others even though we have the same common goal: to get others to form a passionate relationship with Christ. However, when we are busy arguing amongst each other, those on the outside see this and get intimidated or think that we are merely hypocrites that preach love but can’t unite. No matter what jersey we have on game day we need to remember that we are all working for the same goal.
Joe Lawrence is the founder of InspireTomorrow.com, a Christian website dedicated to self-improvement. He is also a published author and professional speaker. Visit: www.inspiretomorrow.com
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