OBEDIENCE
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous 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.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
Matthew 1:19-24 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Imagine you are engaged to be married and you have been very careful to keep your relationship pure. You are waiting till after marriage to consummate your covenant of love. Then your fiancée comes and tells you she is pregnant. You know it’s not your child. That would be impossible. The only logical answer is that your fiancée has been unfaithful and slept with another man. But she claims she hasn’t, and that the child is from God. At that moment you struggle with wondering if you are engaged to a crazy woman. Is she totally delusional to believe God would make her pregnant? You have decided the right thing to do is just break the engagement and move on. You don’t want to have anything to do with this psycho. But then God shows up in your dreams and tells you she is telling the truth. This child is going to be the Messiah. The Savior of the world. Your child will be the Messiah? You are smart enough to know going forward with the marriage is going to be complicated. People are going to talk. The road is going to be rough. Tough times are ahead. But in obedience to God, you choose to obey. Notice that Joseph always had a choice. He didn’t have to obey and take Mary as his wife. He could have walked away and dropped into obscurity from history. His name would have never made the history books. God would have chosen another man to be the father of Jesus. But Joseph chose to be a part of God’s plan while knowing it was going to be a tough road. I believe God’s plan for our lives will always have some bumps in the road. Some will be more difficult than others. Some will be called to persecution and even death. But all who choose to be followers of Jesus should sign up with a full understanding this is not a bed of roses. We aren’t promised chocolate truffles and an easy chair just because we are followers of Christ. There is a cross we are called to pick up. We must be careful not to forget the price of obedience. The rewards are amazing—out of this world, really! But there is a cost. We live in a culture that wants the benefits without paying the price. We want the nice house, car, TV, and clothes but don’t realize it takes discipline, education, and hard work to earn those things. If we take a short cut to get them the pleasure will be short lived. Obedience to the call of God is still our choice—our best choice. Whatever, whenever, and however He invites us to participate in His work let’s be willing to say yes.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit today I commit to say yes. I want to follow You whatever the cost.
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