Christmas hero

“…Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take you Mary for your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).
I’m sure that most of you have probably thought as I have from time to time that Joseph is the most overlooked person in the Christmas story. We have many Christmas songs about Mary and the baby Jesus, there are songs about the Shepherd and Wise men but I cannot recall anything about Joseph. It’s almost like he is an insignificant figure in this story.
Far from it; Joseph is vital to the story. Think about it, here is a man who is engaged to a girl, he finds out she is pregnant and the child is not his. His finance tells him she is a virgin and her pregnancy is of God; wow, what to do. The law would allow her to be executed but he was honorable even in the pain of thinking he had been betrayed so he would quietly release her. He gets a visit from an angel confirming the story and encouraging him to move forward with their plans.
To me Joseph is a hero; he was an honorable and reliable man that God trusted to be the earthly father to His only son. It must have been a tremendous burden to walk that path but Joseph was faithful to the call of God and became the earthly father to God’s only son.
This Christmas season, are we honorable and reliable to God? Can God trust us with miniscule tasks knowing that we will complete them? What about when the recognition doesn’t come; can we be counted on?
Even if you feel insignificant this Christmas season, God still has a task for each of us. They may never write songs about us and we may never have a place of prominence but God calls us to be faithful even behind the scenes and one day what is done in secret will be declared openly in His time.
May it be said of us that God can count on us to be honorable and faithful in what He has called us to. I pray this Christmas is blessed above them all as we celebrate the fact that “a savior is born who is Christ the Lord.”

Merry Christmas!!

Pastor Mike