[image error]Matthew 1:18-24

Sometimes when I laugh, I can hear my father’s laugh. It surprised me the first this happened. It’s called genetics. Half of my DNA comes from him, so I inherited a certain amount of his physical traits.

My mother’s father died at the age of fifty. In the photos I’ve seen of him, it’s feels odd that he will never be older than that. Now that I have reached that age, I see a certain traits I inherited from him, specifically, his eyes. From him, and then through my mother, I get the shape and color of my eyes.

Whether you are the biological child of a man or the adopted child of a man you call “Father”, your life was and is somehow affected by the person in this role.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus had God as his Heavenly Father and Joseph as his earthly father, also a descendant of King David. Joseph could have walked away from the situation: Mary, pregnant, and it wasn’t his. They were engaged, which by Jewish customs meant they were married in every way except the one way that would bring about Mary’s pregnancy. Even though he believed the baby had been conceived of the Holy Spirit, no one else would.

But Joseph chose to obey God and risk humiliation. He adopted the baby as  his son. What a great reflection of God this act was. Didn’t God adopt us as his children, just as Joseph adopted Jesus?

Do we take this for granted? Think about it. We may have earthly fathers, biological or adoptive, but as believers, God is our Heavenly Father. Sometimes it’s easy to forget this. Let Joseph’s unselfish act remind us how wonderful it is we are heirs of the Father.

Don’t forget. Father’s Day is June 18th.

Further Study:

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