Mt 1:24,25 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

   

So Joseph has this dream and it changes his life! How many of us allow the Lord to speak to us in dreams so that the whole direction of our lives are changed? Joseph has to do a hundred and eighty degree turn in life. Yesterday he was planning to quietly divorce Mary, now he's planning to carry on with the wedding preparations despite the fact that she's obviously carrying a baby – and it's not his!

 

Joseph is another staggering example of simple trust and faith in the Lord. He doesn't reason like most of us would – was that really God in that dream? Was that really Him speaking to me? No he just accepts what he's apparently heard and gets on with it. Without realising it, he's just become the guardian of the Son of God. Yes, Jesus has risked coming into this world in the form of a little baby that is totally vulnerable. Herod (and Satan) will be out to get him. All that stands before him and a very premature death is the simple faith of this young man. He's the one who is going to get the tenuous guidance that will preserve Jesus' life. It's only simple faith that we need. In two days we're about to give presents. Would you like to give back to God the simple present of your simple faith and obedience? That's the best we can give to Him and Joseph is the classic example of it.