Thoughtful Obedience

 

“Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”

—Luke 2:23

The miracle of the Incarnation rocked Mary’s and Joseph’s world. In the midst of everything to which they had to adjust, they remembered the instruction God had given them. Here’s Luke 2:21-24:

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord,” and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

The lesson for us from this passage: when God instructs us through His written Word, we must respond in obedience. Let us determine this day—particularly as a new calendar year has opened up before us—that, with the enabling help of the Holy Spirit, we will be obedient. For obedience to God’s will and to His written Word is the only thing God requires of us.

 

Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, January 1, 2016

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