Giving Up Your Rights For The Right Thing

Imagine for a minute that  you have been engaged to someone.  You are waiting for your betrothal period to end.  You are probably busy preparing the home you will bring your bride to.  That’s when you get the news.

Your bride to be is pregnant.  Imagine how you feel.  The devastation.  Anger?  Disappointment?

You have a decision to make.  The Law says that you have every right to stone her.  After all, she committed adultery.  That’s how you end up pregnant if you have been intimate someone before your marriage.

Joseph had that right.  Joseph would have been justified to have gathered a crowd, pulled Mary out to the edge of town and ended her life.  No one would have looked down on him.  Some would have patted him on the back.

Instead, he made a decision to send her away.  He felt some sort of compassion for Mary.  Not only did he not want to end her life, he didn’t want to destroy her life.

Then God spoke to him through an angel in a dream.  The angel told him to stick with Mary and raise the child.

Imagine the looks he got.  “There’s Joseph.  His wife became pregnant before they married.  He married her anyway.  Jesus isn’t his boy.”  Or “Joseph got Mary pregnant before they got married.”

Joseph had all sorts of rights during the nine months Mary was pregnant.  Instead, Joseph did the right thing.

Christmas gives us the choice between our rights and doing the right thing, doesn’t it?

Have you ever given up your rights for the right thing?

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