A Good Man
A Good Man
Reading: Matthew 1-4
19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, 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…” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. (Matthew 1:19-20, 24 NLT)
Joseph was what we would call a “blue-collar” guy. In the UK, he would be called “working class.” A skilled craftsman, he was able to find work to support his family anywhere he went; Judea, Egypt, or Galilee! Joseph was a good man. Not so much a religious man (or he might have exposed Mary to public disgrace), but a good man. NIV calls Joseph a righteous man, KJV a just man, The Message calls him noble.
God communicated timely and practical revelations to Joseph through spiritual dreams and visits of angels. The angelic dreams came to him at least four times in the months leading up to Jesus’ birth and in the two years following. Each time the angelic visitation occurred, each time the dream came, Joseph “did as the Lord commanded.”
Joseph’s prompt and simple acts of obedience allowed Jesus to be born into a good family, protected Jesus from threats to his life in his early years, and made Joseph the primary early influencer of God’s Only Son! I think Joseph’s influence made it easy for Jesus to relate to God as Father and to see himself as “Abba’s Child!”
I wonder how many major moves of God, Kingdom of God events, history-altering achievements, have been made possible by the sensitivity and simple obedience of a good man or woman? Not the one whose name was on the news, but the one who was a behind-the-scenes influencer; one who was sensitive to God and simply obedient.
Prayer:
Father, Thanks for the Good Guys! Thank you for the good, just, righteous, and noble men and women who serve faithfully behind the scenes and provide, protect, and prepare the way for your Kingdom to come and your will to be done. Please help me and my friends who read this today to be among the Good Guys! God bless the Good Guys! Amen.