Matthew 1:20-24

“But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’” vs. 20

Joseph, a righteous man, had resolved to do the right thing with regard to his pregnant fiancee, Mary. He would divorce her quietly and not charge her with adultery. But then he began to have doubts about his decision, doubts triggered by an angel messenger in a dream, and he changed his mind. He decided to marry her anyway…and as they say, “the rest is history.” This little story reminds us that doing the right thing is sometimes the wrong thing to do. Occasionally rules need to be broken and community standards questioned. Of course that does make decision making more difficult…it’s a lot easier when everything is black and white and the law has the final word. But when the Holy Spirit gets involved and we begin to live by grace, we realize that life is more complicated than we might like. We find ourselves changing our minds about things we’d always believed to be true. We accept people we’d always disdained and welcome outsiders into our families. Like Joseph we discover that God’s truth is ever more generous and gracious that we could ever have imagined.

Thought for the Day: How have I been persuaded to change my mind?