Sunday 17 December, 2017

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph was faithful to the law. But he did not want to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That’s because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, 23 “The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) The name Immanuel means “God with us.” 24 Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not sleep with her until she gave birth to a son. And Joseph gave him the name Jesus.

This passage is about the fulfilment of a prophecy given hundreds of years earlier by those who had no way of knowing exactly how it would turn out. That is so exciting – evidence of God’s perfect plan.

However, another thing stands out to me in this passage. Joseph, a good man, determined to quietly break his engagement to Mary because of her pregnancy. But God spoke to him in a dream and he immediately changed his mind and did what God asked him to. The thing which excites me about that is that God’s voice was clear. We often wonder “Am I hearing God correctly?” “Is He really calling me to this?” When it really counts God’s voice is unmistakable. In John 10 Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice”. We can be certain that if we are his sheep, and we are open to hearing, God will make his voice clear.

Thank you Lord, that you are not aloof and hidden away, but are involved in our lives. Please do make your voice clear and help me to be open enough to hear you.

Written by Megan Cornell