Christ our Lord is born: Matthew 1:18-25There is much on my mind as I am writing this. Maybe because of the things that I am witnessing right now, God spoke to me a little differently about this passage than what is originally perceived. The two things that stand out more than anything are Obedience and Submission.
When I think of Joseph, this is almost more that I can even fathom. He is in love with the woman of his dreams, she comes and tells him that she pregnant with the Holy Spirit's baby (Yeah right), then he has a freakin dream where an angel comes to tell him that his wife is going to give birth to God in the flesh and that his child will take away the sins of the world. Wow, what a day. That's more than I could handle.
In Joesph you can see such obedience and submission to Christ the child, and his Father in heaven. I wonder how hard it was for Joseph to look at this situation and be able to self evaluate his place? Do I leave her? Do I raise this boy? What is my role? How am I going to raise God? So many questions. I wonder what Joseph was doing when he finally decided that the best possible thing to do was to be selfless and just play his part? To lay aside his goals, his desires, his dreams, his life, so that he could play his part in the most influential time in all of history. What a great model he must have been for Jesus as he was growing up; having a father who was more interested in the plan of God rather than his own plan.
You can see that before Jesus was even born, he was already influencing the decisions of his earthly dad. That forces me to ask the same question about myself. How is Christ influencing my decisions today? What is Christ doing right now as I type this blog, to mold me into his likeness? How is God moving today in my life?
In verse 19 scripture calls Joseph a righteous man. It is clear in the whole of scripture that Joseph was considered righteous because he believed and trusted in God the Father. He was no more moral than anyone else; however he was considered righteous because he knew God and was known by God. Just as Joseph showed submission and obedience in verses 18-25; verse 19 states that he had been walking with God for some time now; thus God considered him a righteous man. In the NT we are now considered righteous through belief and trust in Christ to cover our sins and Lord over our lives.
So here are the questions I will ask myself today:
1. How am I playing my part in what God has planned today?
2. Am I submitting and being obedient to Christ toady? How or how not?
3. Am I aware of the grace that is covering my sin today, which labels me righteous?
4. How am I standing in the gospel and experiencing it today?
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