Today’s scripture: Matthew 2:13-15 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Ben Lamb):
If anyone ever starts a “St Joseph, Earthly Father of Jesus” fan club, I’ll probably join it. The man really went through a lot; today’s passage is a case in point.
It jumped out at me that Joseph really had a lot of patience. I usually focus on how scary it must have been to have scooped up his wife and young son and high-tailed it to a foreign country for an indeterminable amount of time and have to leave behind so much. Talk about an instant refugee!
Whenever I go somewhere, I take weeks or months to plan ahead. No sir, no surprises for me. I’m going to be in total control of where I’ll be every minute of every day on my journey. (The same goes for me in any part of my whole life as well, by golly.)
Joseph’s travel agent was an angel. His itinerary was “Get out now! You’ll receive more instructions later on an as-needed basis.” I would have balked at such an arrangement; perhaps reminded the angel that I was in possession of the Boss’ son, and therefore deserved a better deal.
If I were Joseph, the hardest part would have been hanging out in Egypt, never knowing when it would be safe to return home. Not knowing what lies ahead is such a nerve-grating experience sometimes. Oh, who am I kidding? I always want to know the future!
Yes, yes, yes, it would be best to always know when that next promotion is going to come along; when the best sale on refrigerators will happen; exactly how much rain we’ll have next week. I could always plan ahead!
But, then again, do I really want to know the exact minute of my best friend’s death and how it will happen? What would I do with the knowledge of another Chernobyl-type of disaster 20 years ahead of time?
On second thought, I believe I’ll be content to let God run the universe and learn to discover the future on an as-needed basis.
Thought for the day: Lead me in thy truth and teach me: for thou are the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all day. (Psalm 25:5, KJV)
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.