"But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared in 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."" Matthew 1:20-21
Last night, my son and I went with our Cub Scout Pack and walked the local "Christmas Lights" neighborhood. It was pretty cool. There was a lot of reminders that this is the season of giving and peace on earth. I was reminded of the verses in Matthew that describe the message to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. Three important realities are dealt with; fear, faith and salvation.
Joseph is told by the angel "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife". Joseph didn't have a fear of commitment. He just wanted to do the right thing. But, he was afraid that whatever he did it would in the end turn out bad. How often are we afraid to trust God? God, knows our fears. He simply says, "Do not be afraid".
Joseph is told to take a step of faith. He is told to take Mary as his wife and then to name the son Jesus. I deal with middle schoolers at work. I guess I am sort of a contrarian because for the most part I believe that the more stubborn the student the less I need to explain, I just tell them what I want done. I seem to get better results than some who feel they need to explain everything. The point is these kids are still children and at some point they just need to be told. We are sometimes like children and we will not be able to see the end from the beginning and so, God just needs to tell us and we just need to, by faith, obey.
Actually, Joseph is told the reason. The reason is because the son is to be named Jesus "because he will save his people from their sins". I sure to Joseph this just didn't sound like the way he thought God was going to send the Messiah, because from his perspective at that moment things just looked like a Roman sized mess. But, from the Eternal God, this was the perfect way to send his Son into the world and save us from our sins. A helpless baby would grow up and become the Savior of the world.
Remember then, as we celebrate with family and friends that God knows your fears, he calls you to take a step of faith and he will save you from your sins.
Father, thank you. Help us to overcome our fear, step out in faith and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Praise be to you in us today!
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