HOW YOUR OBEDIENCE FULFILLS GOD’S LOVING PLANS Or, YOUR LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU REALIZE

God has plans. He has His will (His desire, plans, purposes) and He aims to accomplish it among the heavens and the earth.

If we cooperate with in humble faith and faithful obedience, we can be used in fulfilling His plans and seeing His kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

THE NEW FULFILLING THE OLD

God, who sees past, present, and future as one, spoke through His prophets in the Old Testament, indicating what He planned to do. Embedded in those prophecies were references to the coming Savior, the ultimate remedy for man’s great need.

For instance, in speaking through the prophet, Hosea, to Israel, He proclaims His unswerving, covenant love to His people, Israel.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. (Hosea 11:1)

This dual-purpose statement tells of something past (Israel’s delivery under Moses from Egypt to the Promised Land) but also of something future (Joseph taking the infant Jesus and Mary to Egypt and then returning to the Promised Land.)

But it was Joseph’s obedience that helped fulfill this prophecy, seen 700 years later.

After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son. (Mt 2:13–15)

INSTANT OBEDIENCE

We don’t know much about Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, except this: He trusted God and obeyed. Three times in Matthew 1 and 2 we see this illustrated, and each time, his obedience fulfilled Divine prophecies.

1. God told him to not be afraid and take Mary as his wife. And when the son was born, to name him “Jesus.” And that’s exactly what he did. He was a part of the fulfilling of a prophecy (See Matthew 1:23)
2. God told him to get up and take his family to Egypt, which he did. And he was part of fulfilling the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 … “out of Egypt I have called My son.” (Mattew 2:13-15)
3. God told him to get up and return to Israel, and ultimately to Nazareth after Herod’s death, which he instantly did, which also fulfilled the prophet’s statements that the Messiah “would be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:23)

What is the point? God had a plan, and Joseph, through his faith that led to instant obedience, fulfilled the plan of God PERFECTLY. Not only did it accomplish what needed to be done in the moment, it vindicated God’s faithfulness to His promises and His people.

AND YOU …

God is not limited. While you may not play a part in something as monumental as the birth of the Messiah, what can ever be minor in the daily, unfolding plan of God for heaven and earth? What could be more meaningful than to be used of God to illustrate His faithfulness to a watching world? His minute details for all of creation? His love for His children? His perfection in both past and future, all seen in the moment from the throne of heaven?

Your faith and instant obedience each and every day bring in His kingdom and accomplish His will in ways you will not understand until eternity.

What a responsibility! What a privilege!