Mary: Becoming a Girl of FaithfulnessSample

Read Matthew 2:1-23

After Jesus was born, a star caught the eye of some wise men who loved studying the skies. These men traveled to Jerusalem and asked King Herod for directions. They wanted to know where the newborn “King of the Jews” could be found.

Herod wanted to be the only king, so he told the wise men that when they found Jesus, they should come back and tell him where Jesus was. Although Herod said he also wanted to go worship the new king, Herod just wanted to kill Jesus! But the wise men didn’t know this. They went on their way and followed the star, which led them to Bethlehem, where they worshiped Jesus. When the wise men left Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. So, they went a different way home.

As you can see, the story gets even crazier! While Mary and Joseph were sleeping, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to get up and take Mary and baby Jesus to Egypt. The angel told him Herod was trying to find Jesus and kill Him. That very night they left!

It was not easy for Joseph and Mary to make a trip that far! And now they had a baby to take. But, despite all of these difficulties, Joseph led his family in obeying God. He didn’t ask questions or make excuses. He and Mary obeyed this message from God to go to Egypt IMMEDIATELY!

This brings us to another FAITHFULNESS LESSON:

A faithful girl is immediately obedient.

After a while, Herod died and another angel appeared to Joseph telling him they could finallllyyy return. So, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus took another long journey back to their hometown—Nazareth.

Obeying isn’t something anyone can make you do; obedience is a choice. Mary and Joseph made the choice to obey multiple times. They obeyed even though they did not always have a complete picture of what God was asking them to do, and together they faithfully trusted God’s plan and believed that He knew best.

God is probably going to ask you to do big things someday. You will not always want to do them, but you should. WHY? I’m glad you asked. You should know why we obey God. Of course, there’s the obvious answer: He’s God. He knows what’s best for our lives! But check out this verse that reminds us of another reason to obey God.

“Jesus replied, ‘All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.’” (John 14:23)

Obedience shows God that we love Him.

When our relationship with Christ is sincere, there is evidence of it: love. We love Him. And He loves us. Loving relationships are marked by trust. When you trust someone, you respond to them as if you do. Our true trust in God’s care for us causes us to respond to anything He asks of us with, “Yes, Lord! We obey!”