Friday, January 1, 2016

Matt. 1

"So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace Mary publicly, decided to divorce her secretly."

We know little about Jesus' step father Joseph, but we do have a few verses that would give us keys to his character. Not only did God choose the best mom in Mary, he chose a great dad in Joseph! We should think about being more like this man!

What can we observe from this chapter alone? First, Joseph was a righteous man. This means that he cared more about what God thought about his life than what others would think. He was committed to honoring God with his life. Secondly, he cared about Mary  even when he thought he had been betrayed by her. He loved Mary more than he love himself. She had apparently hurt him, but he did not desire to retaliate the hurt. And finally, "he kept her pure". 

But what about the decision he made? He decided to DIVORCE her! Isn't divorce one of the worse possible sins? How does this decision not cancel out the other things? I think the answer is simple; sometimes divorce is a righteous option. Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to their commitment. His desire to have a "faithful wife" outweighed his desire to have a wife.

God certainly had to intervene. 

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