Joseph along with his obedience was dependent on God which developed his admirable character. He was a young man with deep spirituality. When something happened and T he angel came to him in a dream, it was a very unusual experience (Matthew 1:20), but Joseph was a very unusual man. These appearances of angels that are recorded placed him in a category with men like Jacob, the patriarch, and Daniel, the prophet. Not bad for a carpenter.
The amazing thing about Joseph is that he responds immediately. One might pass off a dream, since dreams are often our subconscious working out of events that have entered our brains. But this was not an ordinary dream. While he was sleeping, he knew that he was visited by this heavenly messenger. Others may call it “a simple man’s foolish conclusions”, but in his heart he knew God was speaking to Him and that was enough for His faith to respond. He had that kind of obedience and dependence that moved him to accept God’s direction and follow it. He showed responsibility to God as well as to Mary and took on the promise of providing for the baby who was to be born of God.
When I was a child growing up, I thought adults had all the breaks. They never had to obey anybody. They could do whatever they wanted. Nobody would be on your case. That’s what freedom is, so I thought. But one learns hard lessons growing up. Adulthood isn’t all freedom and doing whatever you want. It is under the demands of numerous responsibilities that we can’t imagine as children. There is work, home, finances, bills, cars, church, and kids. A person of faith, who is really free, comes to understand that doing what God wants is what is best for his life.
The adult has things he would rather not do and some things he would rather do, but responsibility realizes we don’t make our decisions based on our feelings. We do what God wants us to do, for in that route we find our greatest joy and blessing.
We know to be a father was a heavenly calling for Joseph. His tasks were unto the Lord. That is not different from all our children. We willingly take the responsibility of fatherhood with the help of God.
