God made a vow by the mouth of
Prophet Isaiah about seven hundred years before Jesus was born as Savior of the
world! “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
It took many years, but God was watching over His word to perform it, and at
the appointed time, the promise was fulfilled. When God makes you a
promise, you can be rest assured, it will come to pass even though you cannot
figure out how or when.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His
mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together,
she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because
Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had
considered this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because
what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give
birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what
the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will
conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,” (which
means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the
Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he
did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave
him the name Jesus. [Matthew 1:18-25]
It is interesting that God stopped
Joseph from breaking his pledge to his betrothed. Christmas is about fulfilling
promises! Do you have some broken agreements in your life? Are you able to fix
them? Very often we cannot do these things by ourselves. Joseph was a noble
man. Yet he was on the verge of making a very costly mistake, had God not intervened!
Ask God for wisdom in all your decisions. As much as God enables you, make
promises and keep them.
This Christmas spend time with
those you love, promote family bonding and unity. God preserved wholeness in
the home of Joseph and Mary. He knew Jesus needed a suitable family environment for nurturing and growth. Many families quarrel during the Christmas
over food, gifts, and things like that. Let there be peace in your home. The
Angels announced His birth with praise to God and a message of peace to men.
“Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the Angel, praising
God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom
His favor rests!” (Luke 2:13).
