Few people even think about the concept of eternity, anymore, and that’s a sad fact…
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, everyone into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7)
So, Joseph and Mary didn’t get all of their prayers answered when Mary was pregnant with Jesus. The Bible verses above show that Joseph and Mary went to the inn in Bethlehem but couldn’t get a room there, and they had to stay in a manger. But the young couple trusted God. They were just learning about eternity.
After Joseph heard from God in dreams and Mary was visited by an angel they brought the Messiah into the world in the chill of the beginning of October (when Jesus was born, not December), and with the smell and sounds of cattle. That was not so grand for the King of kings, who was used to the comforts of heaven, but there is no mention of anyone complaining. And Joseph and Mary were newlyweds in all of this adversity! But they were used to trusting and obeying God, so, they respected that he does just what he wants for his reasons, like to teach us humility, to be like him, and his son. So, Joseph and Mary acted perfectly with God, when he showed the way he brought his Son into the world – a different kind of gift.
Like Joseph and Mary, we don’t always get what we want, because God does what he wants. But he uses his people to bring Jesus into the world, either physically, like Joseph and Mary, or spiritually, by saying we are probably in the time of great testing before Jesus returns, as he said, in Matthew chapter twenty-four of the Bible. Follow the instructions.
When God uses us, and we see that what he’s doing is always right, we get excited about it. That’s such a sublimely beautiful thing. God’s ways are much higher than ours, and he never stops showing them – and himself – to us, to grow us up, and make us more like him. And God blesses us this way all the time, and after time ends (for eternity) so, we’ll never stop getting impressed. And that’s just one way that God will never cease to amaze us.
May peace and joy be with you, always
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