Key Passage
All this happened to make clear the full meaning of the things the Lord said through the prophet: "The virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will name him Immanuel." (Immanuel means, "God with us.") When Joseph woke up, he did the thing that the Lord's angel told him to do. Joseph married Mary. But Joseph had no sexual union with Mary until she gave birth to the son. And Joseph named the son Jesus.
— Matthew 1:22-25 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
What if the fulfillment of God's greatest promises depended upon my faithfulness? Ouch! That's a tough question. But verses 23-24 emphasize how this happened with Joseph and Mary. In very simple and straightforward terms, Matthew tells how God spoke his will through the prophets and angels as well as how Joseph and Mary obeyed what God told them to do. That's still the same way God's promises to people come true today. God uses the simple obedience in matters big and small to bring about his promised salvation. We will not always know why God calls us to some task, challenge, or opportunity, but we can be sure that he will use our faithfulness to him to his glory and our greater good.
Prayer
Majestic and loving God, forgive me for my lack of obedience. Please give me a deeper understanding and appreciation of how my obedience also helps you fulfill your promises and bring Jesus into the lives of others. In the name of Jesus I thank you and ask for this grace. Amen.
Related Scriptures
But if you can believe God, then you can believe that what we tell you is never both "Yes" and "No." The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I told you about was not "Yes" and "No." In Christ it has always been "Yes." The "Yes" to all of God's promises is in Christ. And that is why we say "Amen " through Christ to the glory of God.
— 2 Corinthians 1:18-20
The Lord was with Samuel while he grew up. The Lord did not let any of Samuel's messages prove false. Then all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was a true prophet of the Lord. And the Lord continued to appear to Samuel at Shiloh. The Lord revealed himself to Samuel as the word of the Lord.
— 1 Samuel 3:19-21
We should hold strongly to the hope that we have. And we should never fail to tell people about our hope. We can trust God to do what he promised. We should think about each other and see how we can help each other to show love and do good things. We should not quit meeting together. That's what some people are doing. But we should {meet together and} encourage each other. You should do this more and more as you see the Day coming.
— Hebrews 10:23-25
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