DOING THE RIGHT THING

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.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 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 1:18-25

Have you ever been in a situation where you believed you were considering doing the thing that you believed was right, but in the end it turn out that doing what you thought was right was actually wrong? I recently change a relay switch in my truck, but it turn out to be something much simpler than that. I was sure it was the relay switch, but it was not.

Sometimes we might think we are doing the right thing, and not that it is a bad thing, but it is not the thing that really needs to be done. In the above passage we see that Joseph was a man who was faithful to the law. That is how he lived life. He was faithful to God. So when he saw that Mary, his betrothed, was pregnant, he was considering breaking it off in such a way that Mary would not be subject to public disgrace. Why public disgrace? Because she was going to be an unwed mother who could, lawfully, lead to being stoned. Joseph thought that this was the right thing to do, breaking it off, and it may have been under different circumstances… but…

Joseph was given supernatural information from an angel letting him know that this was of God. It was a fulfillment of prophecy and this child to be born would be the Messiah. He would save His people from their sin. Joseph was told not to fear taking Mary home as his wife. With this new revelation he, being a faithful man, obeyed.

Maybe God is asking you to do something that, on the surface, does not seem like the right thing to do. Take a closer look, listen to Him and make sure. He may be asking you to do something that might be out of the ordinary.

Dear Father, may I seek to be obedient to You in all things. Oh, I know I fail in this, but my desire is to be obedient to You. May this be so in the authority of the wonderful Name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit’s limitless power!