Joseph: The Obedient Man

Well, during the Christmas season, we're going to focus our remarks on this theme of, At the Manger.

Think of it. We're all familiar with the manger. We see the pictures, we see the little nativity scenes, but I want you to think of it in a fresh way. Think of this, that the Almighty Great God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who can do all things, the One who is infinite, the One who is so big that He's immeasurable, He's infinite in His size, infinite in His wisdom, infinite in His power, and yet in the miracle of the incarnation, this great God becomes flesh. The Bible says that the Word, referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the triune God, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Yes, it is true that 2,000 years ago, in a little country that we know as Israel, the Messiah came and there He was born. He was born in a town, a town of Bethlehem, just on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and the Bible tells us that as He was born, and we're going to read it this morning, He was laid in a manger. You know what a manger is? It's the feeding trough for animals.

Think of that. The Lord of glory, as He enters this world, He could have been born anywhere that He chose, but in accordance with Scripture, He's born in the town of Bethlehem, the city of David, and He's laid in a manger. If you go to Bethlehem today and go to the church of Nativity, as I've been, you'll see a kind of cave. There's a church built over it, and it is said that it is there in that cave where Jesus was born. We think of a little shed as a place where the cattle and the sheep and the donkeys might have been, but we're told no probability it would have been a kind of cave, and there Jesus is born.

It's a place of rejection, no room in the inn. It's a place of humility that He is laid in a box that is used to feed animals. I remember when my youngest brother was born, he's about 16 years, 14 or 15 years younger than I am, and I don't know why because it was expected that this little boy was going to be born, but I remember him coming home from hospital, and for some reason my parents weren't organized, they didn't have a little crib for him, and so for the first few nights he lay in a drawer, which I thought was a fitting place for him as a 14 year old. But imagine being laid in a feeding trough of animals. Now very few people saw the birth of the Lord Jesus, we're going to think of them. There was no doctors or nurses who were there, well most of all importantly of course there was Jesus. Then there's his mother Mary, and the shepherds are there, they come. No there's no wise men there, they're going to come later to the house the Bible tells us.

There is no little drummer boy there, I don't know how he got in, but he is not there. There probably would have been animals, perhaps a donkey like the one I recently encountered in Nazareth. It was called Maisy I think, and we in a recent trip went to Nazareth and saw this donkey.

Perhaps in the stable there were donkeys like this, perhaps Maisy is the descendant of the donkey that took Mary possibly from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Imagine giving birth surrounded by animals, but there's another person in the manger, one who we don't think about so much, perhaps a bit in the shadows, but we want to think of him this morning because he's a very important person in the story of Christmas, yes Joseph is that the manger. If you have your Bible I want you to open it to the first Gospel, the Gospel according to Matthew, and to open it to the first chapter. There are four Gospels and we're going to read from the first one, Matthew chapter 1, and we're reading from verse 18.

But I ask you to stand as we read the Word of God together this morning. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. We want to think of this man Joseph, he is a man of obedience. As I've read and pondered the story and thought of Joseph, this has struck me that this man is a man of obedience.

When told of the pregnancy of his fiancée, he obeys God. Now, Matthew is giving the account of Jesus' birth from the perspective of Joseph. Luke gives the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Mary. This young man and this young woman, Joseph and Mary, live in a very small town, a very insignificant town of Nazareth, north of Jerusalem, in the province of Galilee. And this man is engaged to Mary.

They're probably, according to that culture, in their teens. Don't think of them as in their 20s or 30s, but think of them in their teens, as Joseph probably being a little older than his fiancée Mary. And in that culture, the engagement was regarded as a binding marriage contract, albeit the couple certainly did not live together. If the engagement contract was broken for any reason, it was referred to as a divorce, and that was only done in very extreme circumstances. And the relationship between this young man and this young woman in that culture who were engaged certainly was not to be physically consummated during the engagement.

That was very, very wrong and against the Mosaic law. Can you imagine then, Joseph, as he learns that his fiancée is with child? He must have experienced great pain, humiliation, confusion, perhaps even devastation when he discovers his fiancée is pregnant. He knows he's not a father. He's a just man. He's an honorable man.

He's not a father. And Nazareth is a small town, and the news of the pregnancy of this young woman Mary would quickly become known, obviously. The Mosaic law said that a woman who was about to get married who was not a virgin had done, I quote from Deuteronomy 22, had done an outrageous thing in Israel. I realize it's not an outrageous thing in America, but according to the Mosaic law, to have sex before marriage was an outrageous thing. And if the woman about to get married was discovered not to be a virgin, she deserved death. That's how serious it was regarded. It's very interesting, as we read about Joseph, rather than trying to defend his own character or to malign Mary, Joseph, it says, verse 19, was unwilling to put her to shame.

That was good, wasn't it? He obviously loved this young woman. So Joseph made, according to verse 19, a very important resolution.

He resolved to divorce her quietly. He's a just man, the Bible says. We read that in verse 19, he's a just man. He's a man of honor.

He's a man who follows the Mosaic law. He's a man of integrity. He doesn't want to create a scandal. He's not a man who wants some drama, some attention to himself. And no, when he discovers this, he wants to end the engagement.

He wants to divorce her quietly. I wonder, as we read about Joseph, if he thought about how she had become pregnant, he would have known her. We're going to think of Mary next week, but we already know that this woman was a woman of great purity, obviously, for God to choose Mary to be the mother of his son. She was a remarkable young woman, obviously, and he would have known that. Did he think that this woman, possibly that he'd known all his life that he'd grown up in Nazareth, that she had had sexual intercourse with another man? Meaning that Jerome writes, Joseph knew, now this is Jerome, it's not the Bible, but it's worth thinking about, Jerome writes, Joseph knew Mary's holiness, I think that is true, and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.

Now that's somewhat speculative, but I think it's worth considering. We do know from the Bible that as Joseph is thinking of the implications of this, here he is, a young man engaged to this woman and she's pregnant, he's not the father, as he's thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appears to him. And Joseph is told, Joseph, son of David, notice that, he's of the royal line, he's the son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

What news? There is fiancé who is pregnant. That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. And then he's also told that he is to give this little boy who is being conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of his fiancé, he's to give her the name Jesus, verse 21, for he will save his people from their sins. This must have been overwhelming to Joseph. First of all, for an angel to appear to you in a dream in itself is overwhelming, then to be told that the Holy Spirit has come upon your fiancé, and furthermore, that she's going to give birth to a son, and I want you, Joseph, to give that little boy the name Jesus, why Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The name Jesus that we perhaps use so glibly, the name Jesus points to his greatest work.

What is that? Praise Him. Every time as Joseph and Mary are bringing up their little boy, and they say the name Jesus, they're saying, Savior, Savior. We used to sing in Sunday school regarding Christ, He did not come to judge the world.

He did not come to blame. He did not only come to seek, it was to save He came. And when we call Him Jesus, and when we call Him Jesus, we call Him by His name. That's His name. That's the earthly name given to the Son of God. Of all the names that could have been chosen, He's given the name, the beautiful name, the wonderful name Jesus. Why Jesus?

It means Savior. He'll save His people from their sins. Now in this overwhelming situation, this young man, I want you to get this, this young man Joseph obeys God.

He acts with honor. He acts with integrity, and he takes Mary as his wife. Turn over to Luke chapter 2 to read a little more of what we call the Christmas story as Joseph obeys the law, the Roman law, and goes to Bethlehem for the census. Luke chapter 2 verse 1, Mary as expected, they're presently in Nazareth, Galilee to the north. Luke 2 verse 1, in those days, a decree went from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, even to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Think of the story, think of the sequence of events.

Shortly after, the angel announces to Joseph that his fiancé is with child. They are told, remember, Israel is under the heel of Rome, that they are to go to Bethlehem for the census. So they have to travel, there it is, from Nazareth in the north, you see it marked there, and to travel south, there's Jerusalem, and outside Jerusalem there is Bethlehem. That's a distance of about 90 miles. Now, 90 miles to you and me is nothing. We could do that easily in a couple of hours.

In fact, some of us could do it in an hour. But this is 2,000 years ago, remember, no cars, no planes. How are they going to get from Nazareth to Bethlehem? By foot, possibly on an animal, a horse, or a camel, or a donkey, or perhaps they walked. Not an easy journey, particularly for a young couple, particularly for a woman who is with child. This is after the conception of the child and the woman of Mary. Now they are traveling 90 miles or so over rough roads, taking about three or four days traveling to Bethlehem in order to register.

As I say to you and I, there is nothing. No probability they had never been out of the region of Galilee in their life. This would have been quite an adventure. But we see the integrity of this man, Joseph. A man whom God himself had raised.

A man who is going to take care of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We see his integrity. We see his love for Mary as they travel with Mary at his side as he is protecting his wife no doubt as they travel.

And we see his obedience. And when the time comes to give birth, Joseph is there. No probability helping with the birth.

No probability is there in the manger. Luke tells us, Luke 2 verse 7, because there was no place for them in the inn. And as the Messiah is born and laid in the manger, Joseph is there.

He obeys God. Further in the story, when faced with a cruel king, Herod, Joseph continues to obey God. Remember the wise men don't come to the manger, but they go to the house in Bethlehem according to Matthew chapter 2. And then the wise men are warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and so they return to their own country another way. And Joseph has another dream.

Go back to Matthew, Matthew chapter 2. Here's the second dream that Joseph has. Matthew 2 verse 13, the wise men had gone, and when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he arose, Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt, I called my son. So as they're in Bethlehem, Joseph has this other dream. The angel of the Lord comes to him and says, now, I want you to take Mary and Jesus, and I want you to go to Egypt to avoid this evil king, Herod. Herod, of course, wants to destroy the babies. And as Joseph hears from the angel of the Lord, notice what he does, he immediately obeys.

It's night. He leaves, immediately he leaves and goes to Egypt. And through this man, Joseph, this obedient man, this quiet man, God is preserving his son Jesus. Herod is furious as he realizes he's been tricked by the wise man, and in his fury he puts out this edict to kill all of the boys in Bethlehem who were, according to verse 16, two years old or under. Herod is a monster. We know from history that he would kill anyone, including his own family, who got in his way for his lust, for power and prestige. And he wants to kill the Messiah. Jesus says that our enemy Satan is a murderer from the beginning. Herod hated innocent little babies.

Our enemy still hates innocent little babies, and throughout the world is killing millions of them, millions and millions of innocent little babies. Now after the death of Herod, the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in another dream. Look at it in verse 19, here's the third dream. Matthew 2 verse 19, but when Herod died, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. So they go from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape the monster Herod. The angel says, rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel for those who sought the child's life are dead. And he rose, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. Again we see God preserving and guiding this man Joseph to take care of Mary and the son, Jesus. Verse 22, so they go back to Israel, but when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, this is the fourth dream, and he went and lived in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled that he would be called a Nazarene. Joseph goes with Mary to Bethlehem. The angel tells Joseph to take Mary as his wife.

He does that. They then go from Bethlehem to Egypt at the command of the angel of the Lord. They then return from Egypt to Israel at the command of the angel of the Lord. And then in another dream, he guides the family back to Nazareth, his hometown, and is there we know that Jesus is raised. Jesus grows up as a young boy, as a teenager in Nazareth.

God's purposes are being fulfilled. The Messiah is preserved. Joseph has the privilege of being at the manger when the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, God incarnate is born. And Joseph is God's obedient servant in preserving and raising the child, Jesus. Now, Joseph is not the natural father, that's true, but God told Joseph. And think of the influence that Joseph would have over Jesus as he raised this little boy as Jesus grew up.

You have this remarkable man, a man of honor, a man of integrity. Yes, a quiet man, but an obedient man, a man with a great heart for the Lord, and a man who is obedient. Let's think of the importance of obedience in the life of those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. A follower of Jesus is a disciple. What's one of the characteristics of a disciple? A disciple, among other things, is a learner. And to learn, you have to obey. You have to be teachable. You ever tried to teach someone who's not teachable? You ever tried to teach someone who's arrogant?

You ever tried to help someone who doesn't respond to what you're saying, perhaps in a family situation, an employment situation, a ministry situation? Characteristic of the authentic follower of Jesus is obedience. That takes humility, doesn't it? Three things I want to leave with you about obedience this morning. First of all, obey God instantly. See that little word, instantly? Joseph's obedience is instant. Matthew 1 verse 24, when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Would you have done that? I think I might have tried to argue with the angel.

I think I might have had a lot of questions. We don't read of him arguing with the angel. We don't read of him questioning the angel of the Lord. We don't read of him trying to suggest to the angel of the Lord that there might be some other way to deal with this predicament.

No. In fact, throughout all of Scripture, Joseph does not say one word. This remarkable man, the husband of Mary who bears Jesus, Scripture, the Gospel writers don't record him saying one word. What they do record is that he obeys God instantly.

Do you get it? Obey God instantly. We saw, as we looked a couple of weeks ago, at the vine and the branches, the importance of abiding in Christ, and we thought of the teaching of Jesus who says that if you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Do you do that? Are you an obedient follower of Jesus? You really think you know better than God. You're going to argue with God. You're going to argue with Scripture. You're going to try and talk your way out of it. You're trying to say that whatever the Scripture says, it doesn't really apply to you because you're different because of your background or your views or the culture is changing and that the Bible is on the wrong side of history and all of that. Is that where you are, trying to rationalize your disobedience? Have you ever been asked to do anything as difficult as Joseph?

I don't think so. We thought last week of another man, of Abidjan Abraham, who's told to leave everything he knows and to go somewhere and he doesn't even know where he's going, but he's told to trust God. The obedience of faith.

Have you ever had something like that? The Bible says that the commandments of God are not grievous, they're not difficult. So I have to ask you, not only are you obeying, but do you obey instantly?

It's difficult for us, isn't it? That shows tremendous humility. That means we recognize that God knows better. The psalmist says, as for God, His way is perfect. God is much wiser than us. God knows the future. He knows everything about everything, so He asks us to trust Him and to obey Him instantly.

Let me give you a practical example. In Scripture, there's a clear command that followers of Jesus are to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I don't know how many conversations I've had with people trying to argue their way out of that. I have to ask some of you, why have you never been baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ? Isn't it clear in the Scripture?

Most many of the people I speak to, including some of you, and I don't have any particular name in question, but if you feel convicted, this is for you. You say, John, I'll get baptized sometime, sometime. Delayed obedience is disobedience. If you delay obeying the Word of God, that is disobedience. The favorite word of the devil is tomorrow, tomorrow. God says today. God expects instant obedience, don't allow your pride to stop you obeying the Lord. The devil says do it, but do it tomorrow. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. The Bible says today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart. That's not just true about baptism, it's true about everything, isn't it? God expects instant obedience. And I marvel at Joseph providing us a wonderful example of that.

Here's another example. You recently did a series on the seven deadly sins, and you were convicted of a particular sin in your life. The Holy Spirit convicted you, and you thought, I need to repent of that. I need to put that to death. That sin in my life must end. But you know, that was several weeks ago, and you still have not done it.

You say, well, I'm going to tend to that one day, I'm really going to do that. I know that that sin in my life is wrong, and I've got to put it to death. The Scripture says that put to death the deeds of the earth.

I need to have a pure conscience before God. This attitude, this behavior, this habit must come to an end. But it hasn't come to an end yet.

And you're still thinking about it. You plan to end that sin tomorrow, tomorrow. The Bible says no, today. Today is the day when God speaks to you. Today is the day when you realize that God is commanding you to do something or commanding you not to do something.

The time to do it is today. Follow the example of Joseph, obey God instantly. You say, well, you don't understand the pressures on me. Think of the pressures on Joseph. He's told to take a pregnant woman as his wife. What are the neighbors going to think? What are his family members going to think?

What's the rabbi in the synagogue going to think? Tremendous pressures on this young man. All of this threatens his standing in the communities, a young carpenter trying to make a living. How's he going to deal with this pressure? Once Jesus is born, the command from the angel is to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. How's he going to get there?

What a pressure situation. Who's going to pay for the journey? Where are they going to stay?

What's going to happen? How are they going to get there? Egypt is a long way away, particularly in the first century culture. But this humble, quiet man obeys God in a pressure situation. He doesn't have GPS, he doesn't have a car, doesn't have an RV. There he goes, and he sets off to Egypt. Then he has the pressure of going back, and as he gets back to Israel, then he's told, no, you go back to Nazareth, but that's where he came from, and he's going to have to deal with certain things there. And what are the people going to think about him returning? And there's this little boy, and he's not the father.

What are the people going to think? But again, he obeys God instantly. Can I ask you to do that? To obey God instantly. Wouldn't that change our lives, wouldn't it? That's an authentic disciple, isn't it? That's a man, that's a young man, that's a young woman that God will use who is obedient.

Instantly, yes, and in pressure circumstances. Number two, leave the consequences of your obedience to God. That's called faith. Joseph doesn't know how things will turn out by taking Mary as his wife. Will his reputation suffer? How is life going to be in Egypt? How is life going to be in Nazareth when he returns after being away for a while? Joseph leaves the consequences of his obedience to the Lord. That's the obedience of faith. Another good example, of course, is in Abraham.

That's what he does. He goes, he doesn't know where he's going, but he trusts God and he leaves the consequences of doing the right thing to God. What does the Bible say? The just shall live by faith. Are you living by faith or is everything going to be set out?

You want a blueprint, you want a guarantee, you want to know all the fine print. If you do this, you want God to say to you, well, if you do that, everything is going to be okay and this is how it's going to work out. It's not how it is. You and I are commanded to trust God and leave the consequences of that right action to God. It's a supernatural way of living. It's trusting God, it's obeying God, it's believing God. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. You hesitating to obey God today because you're not sure of the consequence of your obedience, it could cost you. You're in a work situation and in order to get that promotion, in order to get that sale, you've got to compromise your convictions. And you think, you know, I know the right thing to do, but if I do that, there's going to be consequences.

I may not get promoted, I may not get the bonus, I may not get the sale, I might get fired. I'm asking you to trust God, do the right thing, and leave the consequences to God. Here's a single person and they're dating somebody who's not a believer, or if they are a believer, they're not living for Christ. And you know that's wrong. You know you should end that relationship, but you don't do so. You know why you don't do so?

Because you're worrying that you may be single for the rest of your life. You think, if I end this relationship, that may be the end of it. I know this person isn't where they should be spiritually, but if I end it, what's going to happen to me? Will you learn from Joseph? Will you always do the right thing? Will you obey God? Will you leave the consequences of your obedience to the Lord? Will you trust God and know the tremendous blessing which comes from those who do obey God? Do you think God's in anyone's debt? Don't you doubt the faithfulness of God? Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, do you ever think that God is going to let you down?

No? Obey God instantly and leave the consequences of your obedience to the Lord. Finally, when obeying God, there's no need to fear. Did you notice when the angel comes to Joseph in Matthew 1 verse 20, we read as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. No doubt, Joseph is troubled, anxious, afraid, what's going to happen? Again when there's that command to go to Egypt, that command to return, so easy to be afraid isn't it?

But Joseph again obeys God. When you obey God, there's no need to fear. Why are you afraid to trust God and obey Him? The time to be fearful is not when you're obeying God, the time to be fearful is when you're disobeying God. That's the time to be anxious. The time to be anxious and fearful and worrying is when you're not obeying God, when you've decided to take things into your own hands, when you're working out your own agenda. That's the time to be fearful. That's the time to be anxious. But the safest place on earth, the place of peace, is a place of obedience, is a place of surrender, is a place of trust, as Isaiah says, you will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind has stayed on you because He trusts in you.

This is the rock, this is the rock of ages that God never, ever, ever lets us down. Put our trust in Him. Don't be afraid.

You say, well this could happen and that could happen. Yes, it's possible in your mind to create a thousand scenarios, all of which are bad, all of which are fearful, but God asks you to trust Him and to walk by faith. So here's this man at the manger, Joseph, a quiet man, a man of honor, a man of righteousness, a man who has faith in God, a man who is unselfish in difficult circumstances. He puts Mary before himself. He's concerned about the safety of this little baby, Jesus, and he puts that before himself.

This man is a strong man, isn't he? What a good friend Joseph would make. He's a man of obedience, and he's a wonderful privilege of obeying God. He's a wonderful privilege of giving, the unique privilege of giving this little baby boy a name, Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. And he will begin to understand that that little boy born in a stable and laid in a manger is none other than God incarnate, the Son of God, the one who comes as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. And God in His sovereign purposes chooses Joseph, a carpenter, not a rabbi, not a rich man, not an influential man in the city of Nazareth, no, He chooses this man, a man in the shadows as it were, a man that most people might not even know about, but He chooses that man to be at the manger when the Savior of the world is born. You look on yourself as someone on the fringes, someone in the shadows, God often takes that kind of person, a person of humility, a person of obedience, and uses them in extraordinary ways. Have you obeyed God?

Do you know how it begins? Listen to the words of Jesus in John 3.36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

That's it. We either believe on the Son of God or we don't believe, and that not believing is called disobeying. Whoever believes has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

This is the result of disobeying. As we approach Christmas, I invite you to do what millions have done down through the centuries, to come to our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect man, perfect God, the Savior of the world, the one who's going to grow up in perfection, die on a cross for our sins, be buried and raised again. And he says, now if you believe me, you'll have eternal life. If you don't obey me, you won't see life, but the wrath of God remains on you. I trust every single one of us here in this sanctuary this morning has placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you've never done that, if you've never obeyed the Gospel, if you've never repented and come at the foot of the cross and cried out to Christ for salvation, I invite you to do that. And may those of us who have put our trust in Christ learn from this wonderful man Joseph to obey, to obey instantly, to obey without fear, to obey and to leave the consequences to Him, to trust God and to obey Him. As the old hymn says, trust and obey, for there's no other way.

That's the way. That's what God wants for you. He wants for me to trust Him and to obey Him. Father, we humble ourselves now, we be convicted as we've thought of this man Joseph because there's disobedience in all of our lives. And may we repent of that disobedience. We thank You for the conviction of the Holy Spirit, help us not to rebel against it, not to be defensive, not to rationalize our own sinfulness, but humbly come with our sin to the Savior, knowing that the blood of Jesus, Your Son, cleanses us from all sin. And help us, Father, to live that life of faith, to practice the obedience of faith as we trust You and obey You in all of our ways, in Christ's name, Amen.