Obedience Even In Lack

Joseph and Mary had endured a great deal of upheaval in their lives before Jesus was born. When He arrived (right on God’s schedule) they were far from their home in Nazareth and removed from any kind of family help. Add to that the fact that because of the crowds of people staying in Bethlehem, they were actually camped out with the animals, and the first bed Jesus had was a feeding trough they had repurposed for His use. It is safe to say that Joseph and Mary were not well off financially.

We see this confirmed in the offering that they took to the Temple for Jesus—it was the offering that was used by those who were too poor to be able to make the regular offering of a lamb for a firstborn son. God had made provision for this in Leviticus 12:8 which instructed, “And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”

There is a wonderful example for us in the obedience of Joseph and Mary. They had little in the way of financial resources, but they still did what God had commanded. Sometimes we are more prone to make excuses for why we cannot do as God has instructed us, rather than simply obeying. Our obedience is not conditioned on having everything we need or think we need, but on our willingness to do what God says no matter what.

Today’s Discipleship Principle: If we do not obey God with what we have now, we would not obey Him if we had more.