Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Joseph obeys Monday, December 18, 2000 Matthew 1:20-24 "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...when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him." Living in the small town of Nazareth, it can't be so easy to wake up from a dream, swallow your pride, and marry your pregnant fiancée. Joseph's parents aren't mentioned in the story; were they scandalized? What did the neighbors say? How did Mary fare in her own house; did her father cast her out in the street? Joseph is a young carpenter, very aware of his lineage as a member of the house of David, gentle, kind, righteous. It is natural for him to want to protect the reputations of both his and Mary's family. In his dream the angel reminds him of his ancestry and then calls on him to do the unthinkable. What would you do? Can you put yourself in Joseph's shoes? What would it take for you to believe that the voice in your dream was the voice of God's angel? And if you believe it's God, what would it take for you to do what he asks? Joseph responded to the angel with neither naivete nor skepticism. He kept his mind open long enough to say yes appropriately. I think he must have been certain that he had heard God. And once he was certain, it was not difficult to obey. Obedience welled up within him, immediately transforming his earlier plan. Joseph's certainty did not come from his logic or his emotions. It came from his faith, described in Hebrews 11 as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Joseph, like all of us, was blindfolded. He did not see what he did not see. The future was not visible to him. Without faith he could not have acted as he did. And yet "blind obedience" is condemned in all quarters of the world. Within the religious world it is often condemned as well, and should be. Our religious leaders sometimes expect for themselves what we must reserve only for God. Psychologists have coined a term for this; they call it "spiritual abuse." This does not change the fact that blind obedience (to God) is the way Hebrews defines faith (in God). If Joseph had not blindly obeyed the voice he heard...well, I don't know what historical reverberations that would have had. The point is, he did obey, and in so doing, set a standard of faithfulness that I want to grow toward in my life. Lord, give me the freedom to obey you. Give me wisdom to listen carefully and well, and faith to follow you. "; Add      Edit    Delete