God, Make Me More Like Joseph

At this time of year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I want to remember the great example of Joseph as a husband to the Virgin Mary and as the earthly father to Jesus.

When Joseph got the news that Mary was pregnant (and he knew he wasn’t responsible), he could have ruined Mary’s life. Could he have had her stoned to death? Yet even before God let Joseph in on what was going on, Joseph had already resolved to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19 says:

19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Note that he was described as “righteous.” Also, in the male-dominated society of the day, this shows Joseph had a greater respect for women than was probably typical.

In the very next verse, we are told that God lets him in on the fact that Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit and that it is all part of God’s plan.

20But 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins. 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[a]—which means, "God with us."

What was Joseph’s reaction? Did he react cynically with a “yeah, right... she hasn’t been sleeping with another man... I wasn’t born yesterday.” Did he treat his vision as just a dream. A dream that could be safely ignored? Did stop to wonder what people would think? No! Joseph was obedient and quickly so. In Matthew 1:24

24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Talk about a leap of faith! Would you have acted so boldly? Would I?

Joseph also had great commitment to God and great self control. The Bible tells us he took Mary as his wife but did not consummate his marriage to her until after Jesus was born. And in obedience to God’s instructions, he gave the Christ child the name Jesus. See Matthew 1:25

25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

He knew the prophecies about Jesus’ virgin birth and he did not want to tarnish this part of God’s plan in any way.

Joseph was called upon to take quick action a little latter in life as well. In Matthew 2:13-14 we find that after the visit of the Magi:

13When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,

Did he worry about the affect of leaving town abruptly on his carpentry business? Did he argue that the timing isn’t good. Was he so deep in debt that he couldn’t give up his steady income? No! He knew what God wanted. He did not hesitate. He did not flinch. He got up right that moment and got out of town that very night. Disaster averted!

The same thing happened once again in Matthew 2:19-20.

19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

So... Joseph continued to do his part in God’s great plan of salvation.

God, at this time of year when we celebrate the birth of Your Son Jesus, I pray that you will mold me and make me more into a man like Joseph. Help me make myself available to You to serve Your purposes. Lead me to know clearly Your will for my life and how You need me to serve You. Give me the courage and wisdom to obey promptly and not hesitate when You call me to do something. Give me the discipline I need so that I do not hinder anyone else from coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Amen.