An Unpopular Decision

“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

Yesterday, we began a discussion on one of the many unsung heroes of the Bible: Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. If you missed yesterday’s devotion, I would strongly urge you to go back and read it. But for today, we’re going to continue looking at the life of Jesus and seeing what we can learn from him and the way he lived his life.

The second truth we learn from the life of Joseph is that God will reveal what we must do. This is where so many believers mess up, blow it, and make mistakes. We rely on our reason instead of God’s revelation. We reason first and ask questions later. Joseph was about to do what he thought he should do, and what he thought was the right thing and the best thing to do. But because he was a just, righteous, godly man, and because God knew his heart, the Lord knew Joseph was committed to doing His will and God revealed that will to him.

I firmly believe that the only person God will reveal His will to is the person who is committed to doing His will before He reveals it. God always comes through in revealing His will if we are willing to deny our own plans in order to live out His plans. This is what Joseph did, and we’d be wise to follow His example.

Finally, the third thing we learn from the life of Joseph is that we are to respond to what God says to do. As the Lord was working leading up to the events in Matthew 1, everything was going according to plan. Joseph just didn’t realize until now he was going to be a big part of that plan. As we read today’s key verse, we can see what a great man Joseph was. “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).

Against all logic, against all reason, and even going beyond what the law said he could do, Joseph agreed to become the adoptive stepfather of Jesus. A big part of the Christmas story is about the willingness of one man to raise a child who is not his own because of what God told him to do. Make no mistake about it. This would be no easy task on any front.

At best, things were going to get very messy in Nazareth. The good news is Mary would give birth to the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and be the most blessed of all women, but becoming her husband would be a far greater task than most men would ever answer. Thankfully, that didn’t stop Joseph from being obedient to God. He modeled so well what it looked like to follow God’s lead even when it wasn’t the most popular or most widely accepted decision.

Are you willing to live like Joseph and obey the Lord, even if it costs you?

Dear Lord, help me to be like Joseph. Give me the boldness and the strength to follow you even when it’s unpopular. Remind me that living in obedience to you is always a better decision than living to please human beings. In Jesus’ name, amen.