Do Right, Veryyyyy Slowlyyyyy

Joseph, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly…but while he thought about these things…and being aroused from sleep…took to him his wife. _Matthew 1:19-20, 24

Joseph…

You know, the guy we mention every Christmas who was engaged to Mary, the mother of Jesus…

That Joseph…

The one who found out that his betrothed wife was pregnant and he knew it was not his child!

That Joseph…

Embarrassed, humiliated, heart-broken, hurt, betrayed, and angry…

That Joseph…

…went to bed ready to get his diamond back, call the preacher and caterer and cancel the whole thing. But he woke up committed to “till death do we part.”

What gives here?

What gives is that Joseph determined to do right very slowly.

What gives is that Joseph slept on it.

What gives is that Joseph put his emotions aside and gave God a chance to speak.

And that made all the difference…

Joseph…

Joseph the local carpenter…

We call him St. Joseph…because he determined to do right very slowly…

…ended up spending more time with the Son of God than probably anybody else in world.

What a tragedy it would have been if Joseph had made a snap decision motivated by his hurt and anger. He would have missed out on his God-ordained purpose and privilege just to salvage his ego and pride.

The ONE THING for today: Do the right thing…by all means…but do it very slowly. There may be more involved than you realize.