“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” Matt. 1:18-20.
“If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place” Prov. 24:10 (MSG).
Imagine that you are engaged to a beautiful girl you met in church. This girl clearly live her faith life and her godliness was your major attraction. Then imagine this very ‘holy sister’ walking up to you to announce that she was pregnant! Imagine how earth shattering that announcement could be on your wedding plans.
Obviously she had betrayed your love and trust. Even though she swears she is still a virgin, how on earth could that be possible? How on earth can you be pregnant without sexual intercourse?
Imagine the ridicule from your friends. Imagine the condemnation from your church obviously the fiancé is the main culprit. You bot know that premarital sex is well outside of the norms and is a definite ‘NO’, yet this is what you must both face from this moment forward. Imagine the rejection in the society.
We often underestimate the weight of the decisions that faced Joseph at this point in his life. In one moment his hopes and humble life came crumbling apart. It was not a small crack in the wall, it was a gaping hole. If he disowns the pregnancy, Mary would be subject to death by stoning under the Jewish legal code. If she gives birth to the child, that child will be barred from full legal status of legitimate males in Israel. The foundations of the life of Joseph and Mary and the unborn child was shaken violently by the enormous events of the first Christmas. They had difficult choices to make. Jesus will always ask us to make difficult choices, make no mistakes about that.
In the dry harmattan winds of tropical Africa that is prevalent during Christmas, mud walls often crack as they lose their moisture to the dry, dusty winds. Thatch roofs become so brittle that every slight pressure will cause damages. Two things take place when these cracks happen to our homes. It reveals the hidden contents of our homes to strangers and passers-by and two, it lets in the elements winds, dust and sunshine.
These two things happened to Joseph and Mary and all others involved in the first Christmas. The contents of their hearts were revealed. What is it that is stored in your heart? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and actions follow and these are you true colours.
I was privileged to be in the labour room with my wife during the delivery of our first child, it was a difficult delivery that lasted seven hours. While my wife battled through her experience, my attention was drawn to another lady in labour in an adjacent room. It wasn’t her screams that drew my attention, it was the abusive invectives and cursing trades that made me wonder the kind of woman she was. She most likely was not the cursing type, but that was what her pain brought out. That’s what stored in her heart.
But Joseph had a ray of light into the dark night of uncertainty. It came like a dream, a shaft sunlight through the broken thatch; a waft of wind – dusty with doubts, yet filled with the colours of God’s love and assurance.
Is there a crack in your life? Let the God elements come in. Maybe your heart’s door is barred by reason or culture and habits, you need a crack. What a Christmas gift!
Prayer: Heavenly King, you broke through barriers of time and humanity to reach down to man. Break through every barrier in my life that hinders the display of your full glory. Amen.
#GOD COLOURS; TRUE COLOURS (A Deep Words Devotional Material)
#Celebrating the Second Anniversary of a great vision through the visionary, Aleele Paago.
***Please share with others and let it bless them as it blessed you***
Stay blessed.
©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word)
Also visit www.christapoet.wordpress.com every Monday to read your favourite TWS alongside poems from great poets.
Transforming Word Series 