Article April 21, 1986 Issue

Joseph set an example for us

DOROTHY R. FESSENDEN

It doesn't matter what season of the year it is, but every time I read the beautiful Christmas story in Matthew, I am filled with gratitude for that humble, godly man—that unsung hero of history—quiet, gentle Joseph. When it became apparent that his betrothed was with child—a child he could not have fathered—he put aside his own personal feelings and expressed great compassion for his young beloved fiancee, Mary. Instead of divorcing her publicly and making her an object of ridicule, he wished to divorce her privately, until the angel of the Lord told him the origin of the child.

How close to God he was, to be receptive to this angel message coming to him in a dream. What steadfast trust in God he had, to quietly and readily accept that the babe was conceived of the Holy Ghost and would be the prophesied Saviour! Joseph must have been a very spiritually-minded man to accept such a birth as possible, to cherish and protect that babe which was not his own offspring, and to continue to cherish his beloved Mary. Again, he was obedient when told by an angel in another dream to take Mary and the child to Egypt, then told when to return, and finally, where to live.

What an example of spiritual receptivity! And isn't the Bible full of stories dramatizing the point that total faith in God enables His angel messages to be heard? And that the humble obedience to those messages brings immense blessings? Christ Jesus, of course, is the supreme example of humble, obedient listening to God. And there are other examples. A few of the Bible characters spiritually close to God were Noah, Moses, Deborah, Elijah, Isaiah, Nehemiah, Elisabeth and Zacharias, the disciples, and Paul.

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