Matthew 1:18-21
These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her fiancé, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to publicly disgrace her.
As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Savior’), for he will save his people from their sins.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
There is a program on ABC called “What Would You Do?”…hosted by John Quinones. Actors are engaged to create “ethical situations”, such as bullying, public attacks and humiliation, neglect or abuse, and social and racial prejudice. Hidden cameras document how the people in the surrounding vicinity react to what is happening. At some point, Quinones comes in and tells the people that this was all a set-up. I have to say, it is quite interesting to see how many people say, “This is none of my concern”…and equally interesting to see that there are those who are willing to step up – and out – and take action!
Now consider this…Joseph, a carpenter in a small village, was engaged to be married. I would suspect that a lot of his work relied on word-of-mouth recommendations and his reputation. We know how this works…someone says, “I know ‘Bob the Builder’…he’s a good carpenter and a fine Christian man. You will be pleased with his work.” You rarely hear someone say, “Joe is a heavy drinker and his work is passable, but you should hire him to work for you.” So it is understandable – especially given the setting and the time in history – that Joseph would want to end this engagement.
Scripture indicates that Joseph considered Mary’s feelings and made plans to dissolve the relationship quietly and discreetly. I have to believe that he truly loved Mary and wanted to consider HER feelings and reputation, also. But more importantly, when God’s angel-agent appeared in Joseph’s dream and told him to go ahead with the wedding plans, Joseph listened!
Now I’m not saying that we should begin reading a lot into our dreams…or that reputation and “appearances” do not matter. But I believe there are far too many times when we worry more about what others will think than what God is calling us to do. There are times when we get a message from God – maybe not in the form of an angel who comes to us in a dream, but a clear message all the same - and we blow it off and discount its significance.
The call to each of us today is to wake up! Pay attention! Be on the lookout for God’s messages – and anticipate them. Prepare to be amazed and astounded by His call on your life – and be ready to take action! It took tremendous leaps of faith for Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary and others to accept that these angel visits were truly sanctioned by God…and to trust the directives they received. I am convinced that God is still reaching out today…that He uses angels and other methods to deliver messages to us all the time. Are we receiving them? More importantly…are we acting on them with faith and obedience?
Obviously, God will not call us to give birth to the Savior of the World…or even His forerunner. But our mission(s) will be significant and sanctified, all the same. Others ARE watching to see how you will respond…Who and HOW you will serve. When God shows up in your life and gives you an assignment, what will you do?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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