Advent Daily Devotional - Day 1

Matthew 1:18-25 (NIVUK)

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And she gave him the name Jesus.

Welcome to our Kerith Advent Daily Devotionals. Every day from today to Christmas Eve different people from within Kerith are going to bring a devotional based on some aspect of the coming of Jesus, all of them appearing here on my blog (if you’re not signed up for my blog you might want to do that so that the devotionals will appear in your inbox every morning rather than having to visit the website).

I wonder what you make of today’s reading? Why not read it through slowly and imagine yourself in Joseph’s shoes. You are engaged to Mary, but before the wedding day you find out that she is pregnant. You know that you haven’t had sex with her, and Mary is telling you a strange story that an angel called Gabriel came to her, and told her that she was supernaturally going to conceive and that the baby would reign over the earth forever (we know this from Luke’s account which tells the story from Mary’s perspective – Luke 1:26-38). You decide to quietly cancel the wedding so as not to expose Mary to disgrace, but then an angel turns up in a dream. He tells you that Mary is telling the truth and that you must marry her. You must also treat the baby as your own, and call him Jesus. Not only that, but this baby is going to save God’s people from their sins, and he is the fulfilment of a prophecy given hundreds of years earlier by the prophet Isaiah.

I wonder what you would have done next? Would you have just tried to forget the dream and carry through on the plan to cancel the wedding? Would you have wondered about whether the cheese you ate the night before was the cause of all this? I’m not sure what I would have done. But we know that despite the risk to his reputation (a big deal in a middle eastern culture), Joseph followed through on God’s plan.

God may not have sent an angel to speak to me or you, but as we contemplate the birth of Jesus, we know that he has spoken to us in an even more powerful way. He has sent his Son into the world to speak directly to us. God himself has come and dwelt among us, and has made a way for us to be saved from our sins, and by his Spirit still dwells among us today.

Question…

As we consider the life of Joseph, is there any area of your life where God is asking you to step out for the sake of his Son?

Perhaps he is challenging you to share the good news of Jesus with a friend. Perhaps he is asking you to forgive someone. Perhaps there is a sin you have got caught up in which you need to repent of and turn back to God. Perhaps there is a risk or a new venture he is asking you to step into. Whatever it is, have a conversation with God about it and commit this advent to following him with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength.