How Are We Doing? Part 16

How Are We Doing? Part 16
Monday, February 3, 2025 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Contemporary issues / Encouraging words / Spiritual deception / Spiritual warfare / The church / Thought for Today / Truth telling

In the coming year, how will we respond to God’s leading? Will we respond like Lot or Joseph, the husband of Mary?

In the previous post we looked at Lot. We found that he didn’t immediately obey God. Rather, he hesitated, often choosing to follow his own ideas instead of God’s directions.

What about Joseph? In contrast to Lot, Joseph obeys God without hesitation. He follows God’s directives immediately.

We see it first when he is contemplating putting Mary away quietly, after learning she has become pregnant. God tells him what is going on and that he is to take Mary as his wife. He does so, even though it might cost him. As the Gospel of John would report, the circumstances of Mary’s conception and Jesus’s birth would be questioned.

We see his immediate obedience to God after the Magi lieave.

Matthew 2:13–15 (NAU): “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.’ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my Son.’”

What might have happened if Joseph had pulled a “Lot” and delayed his departure? Jesus would have almost certainly been killed, and Joseph and Mary might have been killed as well. There was no time for doubting, delaying, or asking God for different alternatives as Lot did. Immediate obedience to God was required. For us, why do we delay? God is God, isn’t it wise to say that He knows what is best?

We see Joseph repeating his trust in God, his immediate obedience, upon their return from Egypt.

Matthew 2:21–23 (NAU): “So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’”

From the text, it seems as though Joseph wanted to settle in Judea. He has misgivings, and God warns him not to go there. Based on God’s warning he changes his plans and settles in Galilee, a location that was viewed by the culture as being less desirable.. God’s directives take precedence over his own personal preferences. That is an example to follow.

What can we conclude regarding Joseph? We see him repeatedly obeying God without hesitation. He trusts God and acts accordingly.

What will we do? Will we follow after Lot, or after Joseph? As Christians, how will we walk with God in 2025?

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