Heroes: Devotions From Time of Grace MinistrySample

OBEDIENCE: JOSEPH, HUSBAND OF MARY

Joseph is my hero. The Holy Spirit brought about a virgin pregnancy in his fiancée, but God allowed Joseph a miserable stretch of time in ignorance during which he must have assumed that his dear Mary had been unfaithful to him. How bitter it is for a man to think that another man's baby is growing within the woman he loves.

At just the right time, God sent an angel messenger to bring Joseph into the plan. Even though the details were unbelievable, Joseph believed. "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife" (Matthew 1:24).

I love this man. He stuck with Mary and endured the looks and comments of the Nazareth peanut gallery. He put his career on hold to take the family to Bethlehem for the Roman tax registration. When Herod's death threats made Bethlehem unsafe, he took the little family to Egypt to lie low until Herod's death. He cheerfully accepted his role as stepfather.

He himself, not Mary, was of the royal bloodline of the kings of Judah, and he gave to his stepson the right to be called the Son of David, the last and greatest King of the house of Judah.