Christmas 2012
It would be recorded and rewarded!
Mathew 1:21”And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
When I recommend new converts to start reading the New Testament, invariably they get stuck during the opening scriptures in the book of Mathew, that gives elaborate details of the genealogy of Jesus Christ; for the new converts, everything appears Greek and Latin; however, I encourage them to read on. Have you felt the same way? Come on, today I would make this interesting for you and throw light on some important facts. They hold enormous treasury of truth! Let us dig deep into the scriptures!
As you read through verses 1 to 16, you find many names of fathers mentioned but only the names of four women are mentioned: Rahab, Ruth, Tamar and Mary. It is no accident that only their names are mentioned, while Bathsheba is omitted but she is mentioned as ‘wife of Uriah.’ God certainly remembers your deeds! The names of Ishmael the son of Abraham, or of Esau the son of Isaac are omitted. Points to be clearly observed! No one else is mentioned as ‘king’ except David, who is referred as ‘Jesse begot David the king’ (verse 6) All these factors carry immense truth – God would certainly remember every detail and it would be recorded! Are you listening? May be your achievements at office has been ignored, your hard work has gone unnoticed, your work inside the kitchen is not appreciated by the family, your kids seem to be ungrateful, your friends don’t seem to appreciate your love and concern – all these certainly bog you down. But wait a minute! Jesus is watching over you! His eyes run to and fro! He would reward each one of you according to your deeds! Ah! That’s good news! Every detail of your life – good and bad - is recorded and it would be rewarded!
As we read Mathew chapter one, we see the acute planning of God and the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ to important people who were involved in this great project of Heaven. When Joseph was disturbed in his mind when he heard that Mary was pregnant, immediately an angel from the Lord visits him in his dream and gives him a clear message: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." Joseph instantly obeyed God and accepted Mary as his wife. We learn of ‘immediate obedience’ from Joseph and Mary and the swift actions that they take after they receive the Word of God. Let me tell you today, 99% obedience is still disobedience! We got to fully submit to God and His Word! Let us learn valuable lessons from the life of Joseph and Mary! Procrastination is a bug that is rusting many today: I will pray tomorrow, I will give up this bad habit next month, I will stop stealing from next year, I will start fasting from next year, I will stop smoking from next week, I will give up this extramarital affair from next year, I will throw away the pirated CDs once I buy new ones……hear me please……….the more you delay, the more you would have pain and sufferings in your life. Dilly, dither and you would get destroyed!
Joseph and Mary receive instructions step by step in their life because they acutely obeyed God and made the move, despite the inconveniences involved in it. Imagine taking a new born baby and traveling all the way to Egypt!(Mathew 2:13) They did it! When we obey God’s voice and make a move, we sure receive the necessary protection and provision required for the assignment. Are you there?
Merry Christmas!
