The Wrong Thing for the Right Reason - Part 1


Prayer:  O Little Town of Bethlehem
              O little town of Bethlehem,
              How still we see thee lie!
        Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
              The silent stars go by;
        Yet in thy dark streets shineth
              The everlasting light.
        The hopes and fears of all the years
              Are met in thee tonight.

              For Christ is born of Mary,
              And, gathered all above
        While mortals sleep, the angels keep
              Their watch of wond’ring love.
        O morning stars, together
              Proclaim the holy birth,
        And praises sing to God the king
             And peace to all the earth!

Read: Matthew 1:18–25
http://www.esvbible.org/Matthew+1%3A18-25/

Think about It:
One of the fun parts of being pregnant is thinking of the name for the child. Mary and Joseph didn’t have to ponder names for their child. It has already been chosen for them and told to both of them separately. They are told to name the child ‘Jesus’ which means The Lord Saves. One wonders who revealed the name first? Mary or Joseph? The  sharing of those events in both of their lives when they had a personal intervention from God must have been quite a moment.

The earthly (albeit not biological) father of Jesus is at the center of our story for today. We’ve all read and heard the Christmas story over and over again. For Luke the story centers on Mary but for Matthew we hear the story from Joseph’s perspective. This is a blessing to us for his reactions and subsequent actions are informative and instructive.

Prayer: How silently, how silently
            The wondrous gift is giv’n!
      So God imparts to human hearts
            The blessings of His heav’n.
      No ear may hear His coming;
            But in this world of sin,
      Where meek souls will receive Him, still
           The dear Christ enters in.

           O holy Child of Bethlehem,
           Descend to us, we pray;
     Cast out our sin, and enter in,
           Be born in us today.
     We hear the Christmas angels
           The great glad tidings tell;
     O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel!

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