Even The Best Laid Plans....

Even the best laid plans don't always pan out like you think they will. When I started this blog I had every intention of posting on a daily basis to match up with the daily Bible readings....alas....time....the ever encroaching enemy has foiled my best laid plans. So, I will post a blog as often as I can, and they will still follow the daily Bible readings, but they may contain a day or two, or three, or...(well, you get the point), or more of the daily readings.

So without further delay, away we go!

Although I read some great stuff these last few days, I keep going back to the first couple of chapters in Matthew. Here we have the account of the genealogy of Jesus, and the account of the birth of Jesus.

Now normally Mary gets a lot of attention, and I don't have a problem with that, but after watching the movie, The Nativity, I have a lot more appreciation for Joesph than ever before.

Think about it. Cut away everything you know about the birth of Jesus. Put yourself in the place of this guy. You are engaged to be married, and the your fiance comes up pregnant, and she has the nerve to tell you that God is the Dad! I mean, most guys would go punch out the guy who got their fiance pregnant, but when you're told that God is the father, whadda ya gonna do!?!? Wouldn't you think your girl was a bit whacko?

Joe then has a dream, and in the dream he gets a message that everything is cool, and that the baby is the Messiah.

Now, even though Joe believes this, it is still a HUGE thing! He has to be responsible to raise the Messiah! Yep, no pressure there. In the movie The Nativity, Joe tells Mary, "I wonder if I will be able to teach him anything at all."
Whew! I worry about messin' my kids up...wonder if Joe ever thought about that.

The amazing thing is that we don't hear any more about Joe after this. He fades away. It is assumed by most that he has died by the time Jesus entered into His public ministry. Yet, if Mary was picked by God, doesn't it seem like Joe would have been picked as well?

I mean, if you were God(now there's a scary thought!) and you were gonna have someone raise your Son up to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world, woudn't you want the best you could find?

And that is the point I want to make. I believe God did choose the best. He chose Joe. Just a plain ol' Joe.

Ever wonder what "great" things you could do for God? Or maybe you've wondered how you could do anything, because you're just a "regular" guy, or girl. You're nobody special. You're just a plain ol' Joe.

Then rejoice! God has a habit of choosing "plain ol'Joes" to get His work done.

Believe me, I know this not only from the scripture, but from my own life. If He can use me, then He can use ANYBODY.....EVEN YOU!

So go on, go on out tomorrow and be a plain ol' Joe for Jesus.

You never know where it will lead you.

Until the next time,
Pastor Dave