Good morning everyone! Day one in the New Testament. Praise the Lord!
Matthew Chapter 1. “See, I told you so!”
For 42 generations, God made a promise that from the seed of Abraham and the seed of David would come the Messiah, Emmanuel, meaning “God With Us.” And now we see the fulfillment being laid out before our very eyes. The genealogy of Jesus is important evidence that Jesus is the chosen one.
Jesus's earthly father was indeed from the genealogy of Abraham and David. But so was Mary. That however is not mentioned in Matthew but is mentioned in the genealogy in the book of Luke. The fact that Mary was a virgin when she was conceived with Jesus is also evidence fulfilling the promise that the Messiah, Emmanuel, God With Us, would be born through a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. See, the Scriptures told us so. Glad for the fulfillment of Scripture.
Don't get me wrong, just because God was fulfilling his promise through Joseph and Mary, does not mean it wasn't uncomfortable for them. Think about it, Mary is pregnant, which is a big violation of the law which is against sex before marriage. But she didn't have sex before marriage because she was conceived through the Holy Spirit. But the world's perception doesn't look at it from God's perspective they look at it from the world's perspective. And from the world's perspective she was evil. I'm sure she had to be in hiding during her pregnancy. I'm sure she didn't get out much for fear of people looking down upon her. Remember she was a teenager when all this was happening.
When it comes to following the Lord and loving people like Jesus did, means we will encounter similar situations. For example, if I become friends with a homosexual and want to love on them like Jesus would, would Christians look down upon me? Would the church condemn me thinking that I was condoning the act of homosexuality? Or would they look at me as being obedient to God's call to love everyone even if they don't agree with our doctrine?
Sometimes God calls us to do “crazy” things, that which is not of the norm. That which is not popular amongst the church. Being obedient to God's call can be very uncomfortable especially when we are concerned with how others feel versus how God feels.
If we can let obedience to God override the world's view, then we can see great fruit from our obedience. We can then experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that surpasses all the unrest that is amongst our family and friends and the church who are thinking we are making a poor decision in our obedience to God's call.
What is God calling you to do? If God is calling you then it's not crazy. Instead it is awesome and we should be excited about the challenge rather than worried or concerned.
Have a Blessed Day!