Another Joseph 3

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.^[d] And he called His name Jesus.  Matthew 1:24-25  KJV  King James Version

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord’s angel told him to do. He married Mary”-  Matthew 1:24-25 ERV-English Revised Version

“When Joseph woke up he did what the angel had told him. He married Mary, but had no intercourse with her until she had given birth to a son. Then he gave him the name Jesus.”--Matthew 1:24-25 Phillips

As we continue to look at the life of “Another Joseph” ,I am amazed at the strength of the character of this man. We are told in the next verse(Matthew 1: 24 ) that although he took Mary home as his wife, he did not sleep with her until she had her first born son. That tells me at least three things about this man that is once again worth emulating if we are eventually going to get to the Palace or raise children who will eventually get to the Palace.

Firstly, this “Another Joseph” was a man of great self control. It is one thing not to sleep with your fiancee as per honouring God’s guidelines against pre-marital sex but it is another thing to be married to your wife and not touch her out of respect for the seed she is carrying and what God has planned to do with her life. Let us imagine that he saw Mary go to the bathroom, return ,dress up ,lie on the same bed with him  everyday for almost nine months and he did not have any sexual relations with her( Matthew 1:24).This man’s  ability to keep his legitimate desires under control  is a testimony of a life that is recklessly abandoned to the will and purpose of God .

The next thing that is worth noting is that this  “Joseph “is man enough and confident in himself to support the dreams of another, especially his wife’s dreams. He watched her belly protrude throughout those nine ,months and I am really convinced that he helped her around the house during that period. Unlike the brothers of the original Joseph we were studying who were so bent on aborting his dreams(Matthew 37:19-20), this Joseph helped to nurture the dreams of another. He must have created an environment that enabled Mary to carry the pregnancy successfully without feeling threatened neither did he resort to emotional abuse .He created the kind of atmosphere that enabled his wife to fulfil the purpose of God for her life .

The third thing from this verse is that Joseph called the name of the son that Mary gave birth to “Jesus” (Matthew 1: 24). He did according to the instructions he had been given in his dreams(Matthew 1: 21 ). He was a man of complete obedience as we see him carrying to the latter the commandments that were given him. All through the recount of the genealogy of Joseph, none of his ancestors as it were bore that name but Joseph obeyed and gave the child the name that was given in the dream. He was a man of humility and gave up the right of naming his wife’s firstborn son what he would have loved to call him. Most people having a baby usually have a preference for the name they want to call their child but all these is put aside as this man Joseph seeks to honour God.

This “Another Joseph” was a man who worked in partnership with God.He was more concerned about God’s purpose and will and as we look at his life up to this point, we are challenged to see someone living his life in a way that the words “this was to fulfil scripture” could be written about him. Almost after every verse about him is a confirmation from Matthew so that it may be fulfilled what was written in Scripture(Matthew 1: 22; 2:15,23).

If we are eventually going to get to the Palace, we must live our lives according to scriptures like the way Joseph did .One of the things written about us is the truth  that we have been recreated to do good works which God planned for us long ago to do( Ephesians 2:10). Another scripture that has been written concerning us is that God’s purpose is that we eventually become like his son ,conformed into his image ,so that his son Jesus may be the firstborn among many brethren( Romans 8:29).

Self control, the ability to nurture the dreams of another and complete and thorough obedience are attributes that the man who will eventually get to the Palace must possess.

In His Service,

Grace Tom-Lawyer.

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