By A.Y. Oyakale
Much of our life of faith is spent living in between God’s promise and its future fulfillment. All through the Bible, God makes big promises and then asks His people to live in faith. God promised Abraham he would be the father of a great nation when he had not even had a child yet and was already 75 years old (Genesis 12:1–4). It would be over 20 years before this promise was fulfilled.
“Charity begins at home,” they say. Apart from the fact that Joseph played an earthly father role in the life of Jesus, he also mentored and protected Him (Matthew 2:14). The Bible portrays Joseph as a just and upright man of faith. So we could say that Jesus as a toddler, a child, a teenager, and a young adult was raised in a way that strengthened His future ministry.
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“God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28).”
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We learned that Joseph was an obedient, humbled, active listener, and a doer of God’s Word (Matthew 1:24–25). He followed God’s instructions about the birth of Jesus to the letter. He understood, obeyed, and surrendered to God’s plans and purpose to save the world through Jesus (Matthew 1:21).
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
God chose Joseph to fulfill His eternal promise to save the world through Christ because of Joseph’s spiritual qualities. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28). It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver.
For Reflection:
We are the chosen generation of our world today. God is actively calling and speaking to us. He wants to use us to introduce Jesus Messiah to our modern world. Are we ready to humble ourselves, be obedient and sensitive, listening and doing as He commands?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, it took thousands of years from the first Adam who brought humankind the guilt of sin and the second Adam who brought us the way out of these guilts. So, Lord, give us power, strength, and boldness to bring good news of hope to this chaotic world. We ask that you lift us up so that we can draw people to your side. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to save the world. Help us to remember the main purpose of this Advent season. We ask all these in your name. Amen.
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A.Y. Oyakale serves as a delegate, Board of Administration member, and worship leader at John Wesley Free Methodist Church in Indianapolis. He currently works as a manager of customer service for the U.S. Postal Service, and he previously served in the U.S. Navy and worked for technology companies. He is a native of Nigeria where he studied economics at Olabisi Onabanjo University.
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