The Gift

God doesn't work alone.  

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. - Matthew 1:18-25

The birth of Jesus could not have happened without Mary, and Mary could not have had the child and raised it without Jospeh.

So, the decision to become one of us in order to help us save ourselves from sin meant someone needed to be called to serve.

What we are called to do may be a lot simpler than what they did, and yet, we probably don't give a thought to what God might have in store for us.

If we want God to work miracles in this world, we have to expect to be called to help make them happen, since this is the life we have been given.

Looking at it that way, it isn't surprising that Mary would be called to become the mother of the child and Joseph would be called to take her and the child as his.

The work is ours to do for one another.

We are responsible for how this world turns out.  Yes, God will help us, but He gave us the will to do the work, the compassion to want to help, the love for one another to be Him here.

We tend to think about the birth of Jesus as a gift from God, but it is also a gift from Mary and Joseph to all of us, on behalf of God.

So, as we enter into a new year, we may want to take stock of our own lives and ask God what gift we can be to His people.

More to come...