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Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)
I have a dear friend who is a faithful reader of this devotional, but every so often she will email me and exclaim, "I don't know how I did it, but I no longer get your devotional!" This poses a slight problem for me as the group's moderator, because with this email server if you unsubscribe, I can no longer add you on myself; you must re-subscribe for you to receive these again. We can understand the policy, this server does not want to be a provider of spam, which is unwanted emails. If you want to be with us, you must choose. The passage is about God wanting to be with us, and the manner in which God took action during this season of Advent; God chose an honorable, Godly woman and place His child in her and visited her intended to share the news to convince him of his duty and role in this wonderful plan for humanity. And, to show how this would be a fulfillment of ancient prophecy: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name Him Emmanuel, which means, 'God is with us." Joseph's obedience to this dream and to his role as Jesus' earthly father made possible the salvation of humanity.
The better question: Are you with God? Joseph had to decide, "Yes, I am with You, Lord," as do we. Every day we are given opportunities to say yes to God and God's plan and purpose of our lives. Every time we say yes, we bless God's work and we end up blessing ourselves.
Say yes to God today. And all days.
PRAYER: Loving God, we celebrate You and Your involvement with us. As we continue these days of preparation for Jesus' celebration of His first arrival, help me to say yes again and again to You and Your plans for me. I want to be faithful and fruitful. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
