Mercy over Malice…
“Joseph…decided to break the engagement quietly.”
Matthew 1:19 NLT
Joseph’s life of silent action gives us three keys to living in God’s promises. Today, let’s look at the first key: mercy. We are introduced to Joseph in the middle of a personal crisis. He is in love with Mary. And he believed that she loved him…until he heard she was pregnant. How should he respond? Openly shame her? Or surrender her to a public stoning as the law of Moses required? No, he chose mercy over malice and anger and revenge. The mercy of Joseph preserved the life of Mary and protected the unborn child Jesus so that He could fulfill His destiny and become our Savior. And this understanding, forgiving, and merciful carpenter helped to raise an understanding, forgiving, and merciful Son.
A Son who would confront prejudice and hatred; who would rise above the discrimination of His culture and treat a Samaritan woman as an equal; who would release “the woman at the well” from a lifetime of failure and emptiness, and also bring hope and salvation to an entire city; who would tell a guilty woman caught in adultery and about to be stoned by a religious mob, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (Jn 8:11 NKJV). A Son who would accept sinners not as bad, but as lost.
One of Joseph’s other sons, James, would one day grow up to believe in Jesus and write one of the books of the Bible in which he said, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds” (Jas 3:17 NLT). Has someone hurt you? Follow the example of Joseph and show mercy. (series of “Life Lessons from Joseph” to be continued…)
PRAYER: Lord God, lead me to be full of mercy and good deeds, just as You have been merciful to me in the person and work of Jesus Christ. In His Name. AMEN.
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