Willing to Obey

Just as God chose Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, He also chose Joseph to be Jesus’s father figure on Earth. A carpenter by trade, Joseph was a hardworking guy, the kind who chops down trees, frames houses, and builds tables.

Not only was Joseph a good father figure for Jesus, but he also stood bravely with Mary. Initially, when Mary told him the angel Gabriel had appeared to her and announced that she would be the mother of the Messiah, he didn’t buy it. Knowing that Mary was a godly person, he decided to put her away privately. He wasn’t going to expose her. However, his heart was broken because he loved Mary.

Then an angel also appeared to Joseph. Matthew’s gospel tells us, “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit’” (1:20 NKJV).

Joseph could have simply said, “No, thank you, because no one will believe this”; instead, he eventually decided to go through life with people believing that his wife had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. And Mary went through life with the reputation of being a loose woman.

In fact, we read that on one occasion, the Pharisees said to Jesus, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God” (John 8:41 NKJV). They were effectively saying, “At least, we weren’t born out of wedlock.” Those were fighting words.

Yet Mary was fulfilling prophecy, and she obeyed God. And Joseph was willing to do the same.

Has God called you to take a step out of your comfort zone and do something unexpected? Follow the examples of Mary and Joseph, whom God used to change the world.