17 December 2014
Marry the Girl
Matthew 1:20-21
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Mary is visited by an angel of God, who comforts and encourages her, and she is even excited to carry out God’s will for Mankind (See their interaction in Luke 1:26-38). Then she leaves for her cousin’s house a few days later. I don’t know if she interacted with Joseph before she left to see Elizabeth, but when she returns about 3 months later, she is obviously pregnant. So, Joseph is visited by the angel in a dream and when Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25).
God said to marry the girl, and Joseph did exactly what God said.
This makes me think of our society today with no Christmastime theme at all. What the heck is wrong with people today such that they do not marry? It has been ingrained in society so subtly over the last few decades that it has now become standard practice and common knowledge not to marry like the Bible says anymore.
I was watching Teen Titans Go, a children’s cartoon, with my 8 year old son the other day, and Robin, who is madly in love with Starfire, pours his heart out to her about how he would like to take her out on a date, then move in together, and then eventually get married. Whattheheck? Why is that the order? Why do these sociological assumptions go completely unchallenged? Kids are accepting this system and growing up to do the same thing.
Joseph took Mary as his wife right away. Right when he woke up he did what the angel said to do. He didn’t wait till the baby was born, till they tried each other out first, till financial conditions were right. He just did it. They had lots of kids together and lived happily ever after too.
I can’t stand it when the ideas of the world creep into the church. Young Believers today are totally under-informed about marriage. Even some well meaning parents state their wishes for their 20something child to finish school or get a job first, but in the meantime the couple will most likely get a little bit pregnant. The truth is that when you meet “the one,” it isn’t necessary to live with them first or have children with them first or have your careers in place or be financially set. Here’s why, Matthew 6:33 says to seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Make God’s will the most important thing and do what his Word says, THEN he will give you everything you need like children, homes and incomes. The reason the world has it wrong is because they are trying to get everything they need for themselves FIRST and then maybe get around to obeying God. But not Joseph. He obeyed God even when it sounded weird. And today, in our day and age, getting married before you live together first sounds weird.
Dear God,
Thank you that your Word tells us everything we need for life and godliness. I like living how you prescribe and seeing you meet every single need that comes up. I pray for the young people in my house to see the blessing of how you work in our lives that always brings about exactly what we need. We do not want to copy the behaviors of the pattern the world has in place, but we want to know what really matters, and we want to obey YOU! I love you and thank you for showing these truths about marriage to be good and pleasing based on personal experience. And those who trust in you are never disappointed, and I certainly am not disappointed either. Thank you so much, I love you, and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
Marry the Girl
Matthew 1:20-21
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Mary is visited by an angel of God, who comforts and encourages her, and she is even excited to carry out God’s will for Mankind (See their interaction in Luke 1:26-38). Then she leaves for her cousin’s house a few days later. I don’t know if she interacted with Joseph before she left to see Elizabeth, but when she returns about 3 months later, she is obviously pregnant. So, Joseph is visited by the angel in a dream and when Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25).
God said to marry the girl, and Joseph did exactly what God said.
This makes me think of our society today with no Christmastime theme at all. What the heck is wrong with people today such that they do not marry? It has been ingrained in society so subtly over the last few decades that it has now become standard practice and common knowledge not to marry like the Bible says anymore.
I was watching Teen Titans Go, a children’s cartoon, with my 8 year old son the other day, and Robin, who is madly in love with Starfire, pours his heart out to her about how he would like to take her out on a date, then move in together, and then eventually get married. Whattheheck? Why is that the order? Why do these sociological assumptions go completely unchallenged? Kids are accepting this system and growing up to do the same thing.
Joseph took Mary as his wife right away. Right when he woke up he did what the angel said to do. He didn’t wait till the baby was born, till they tried each other out first, till financial conditions were right. He just did it. They had lots of kids together and lived happily ever after too.
I can’t stand it when the ideas of the world creep into the church. Young Believers today are totally under-informed about marriage. Even some well meaning parents state their wishes for their 20something child to finish school or get a job first, but in the meantime the couple will most likely get a little bit pregnant. The truth is that when you meet “the one,” it isn’t necessary to live with them first or have children with them first or have your careers in place or be financially set. Here’s why, Matthew 6:33 says to seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Make God’s will the most important thing and do what his Word says, THEN he will give you everything you need like children, homes and incomes. The reason the world has it wrong is because they are trying to get everything they need for themselves FIRST and then maybe get around to obeying God. But not Joseph. He obeyed God even when it sounded weird. And today, in our day and age, getting married before you live together first sounds weird.
Dear God,
Thank you that your Word tells us everything we need for life and godliness. I like living how you prescribe and seeing you meet every single need that comes up. I pray for the young people in my house to see the blessing of how you work in our lives that always brings about exactly what we need. We do not want to copy the behaviors of the pattern the world has in place, but we want to know what really matters, and we want to obey YOU! I love you and thank you for showing these truths about marriage to be good and pleasing based on personal experience. And those who trust in you are never disappointed, and I certainly am not disappointed either. Thank you so much, I love you, and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
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