March 20, 2022 Joseph
Joseph
Can you imagine waking up one day and hearing that your girlfriend is pregnant, and you’ve never had relations with her? She is carrying someone else’s child, and she tells you that it’s the Holy Spirit who got her pregnant!
This is exactly what happened to a guy named Joe. In Matthew’s first chapter, we read how an angel of the Lord spoke to him in a dream. The angel told him not to be afraid and even gave him the name of the Child. I wonder if he thought it was just a bad dream, but Joseph, once awake, had a choice to either ride or die!
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:24, NIV)
The definition of ride or die is "a willingness to do anything for someone you love or someone you appreciate in your life. The person who you stand by in any problem and vice versa," This is exactly what Joseph did.
In life, we will face those moments that will rock us to the core, when we must make a choice to either run and hide or be willing to ride and die for the cause. Joseph was ready to die for the woman he loved and the Child that would be born. It didn’t matter to him who the father was, only that the woman he loved would have a baby. Joseph’s willingness to stand up and marry her and raise Jesus as his own proves that ordinary men can find the strength to run and die to self and live for Christ.
I must wonder, if we were visited by an angel in our dreams and told what God wanted us to do, would we simply dismiss it and go about our way, or would we stand firm upon God’s Word and His promises? Life is about choices, and we live and die by those choices. Joseph had a choice, and he chose to stand by the woman he loved.
There have been times in my life that I wish I had made better choices for the woman I love. I can’t go back and re-do my past, but I can make sure that I make choices that bring God honor and show my love to my wife.
We don’t read much more about Joseph in God’s Word, but we do know that when it came time for him to step up and love Mary and take care of her, he did it!
We read in Matthew 1:19 that Joseph was a righteous man, meaning that he was devoted to the Mosaic Law and lived it. I wonder, if people were to read our life’s story, could they say that we are righteous when it comes to how we are devoted to God’s Word and live it in such a way that others want to know more about the God we serve?!
We can do things as simple as reading God’s Word daily, praying, and getting together with a group of men to talk about life, sharing our struggles, being honest, and loving those we are blessed to have in our life, no matter what we encounter!
In every situation of life, we have the choice to run and hide or ride and die for Jesus. Which do we choose?! Be like Joe and be willing to ride and die for Christ!
By Tom Sember, www.maletime.org
Today’s Verse: This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
…..When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-21 and 24-25, NIV)
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.