Sunday, January 6, 2013

Plain and Boring

Plain and Boring
Jan 7, 2013
Is 64:8  "Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."


There are many noble characters found in the Bible and I'm sure we all would consider, Joseph, the human father of Jesus, to be one such person.  After all, Joseph was the carpenter dad of Jesus the Messiah.  He is rather famous.  But I would submit to you that Joseph was quite ordinary, plain and boring.  Little is known about the man except he was a carpenter and that the Bible says he was faithful to the Mosaic law.  Other than that, Joseph was not notable at all.  He was referred to as being from the tribe of Benjamin and the husband of Mary.  Men were never considered or named in association with their wives.  Wives were property and Joseph would not have been named AFTER Mary in the Bible if he had been more important than her.  But together they were referred to as "Mary and Joseph," not the other way around.  Joseph isn't even mentioned in Jesus' adult life.  It is believed Joseph may have passed away before Jesus entered His ministry at age 30.  In short, Joseph didn't actually DO anything, other than carve wood and provide a male role model for his household.  Jesus didn't even claim to be his son.
 
The Bible says the the Lord creates all of us to accomplish His goals, some for noble purposes and some for common use.  If you were to compare Joseph to Jesus, I would suggest Joseph might be considered "common use" and Jesus would be considered "noble purposes."  While it is not mine to judge, you may have a different perspective.  You may think Joseph, though not a multifaceted hero, was still a man created for "noble purposes," as he was picked to be the earthly dad of Jesus.  Sure, in hind sight this might be true. But if you were to have asked Joseph when he was alive, he might have been frustrated with his lack of fame or notoriety, frustrated that he didn't really do anything outstanding for the Lord.  This possible difference in opinion or point-of-view is the intended point.

You may desire to do great things for the Lord, accomplishments considered noble and awe inspiring by others.  But the Lord might require you to simply be the steadfast father in a household that produces a mighty man like Jesus.  You might be asked to be a carpenter for the rest of your life, poor and mundane in excitement.  But if the Lord has asked it of you, is it really of noble purposes or not?  If the Lord has asked it of you, regardless of the perceived earthly importance, is it any less noble than something else?

If you desire to do great things for the Lord and are serving Him in your plain and boring life, accomplishing what seems to be nothing, then you might be right where the Lord wants you, being used perfectly for His noble purposes.  It is not your perspective that matters, only the Lord's.  Joseph had no idea what the Lord was really doing with his life.  In fact, he was quite embarrassed when his soon-to-be wife was found to be pregnant.  Joseph was probably even ridiculed by outsiders who didn't understand the Lord's design, having taken a wife who was already with child.  But it didn't stop Joseph from waking up every morning and going to work in his blue-collar clothes, performing mundane tasks for a low wage and zero notoriety.  Joseph might have considered his life a very "common use" in all of the Lord's design, but if the Lord ordered it, is it any less important than the role the Lord designed for Jesus?  Your life has purpose and if you are doing what the Lord has set before you, then your life has been designed for "noble purposes."  Only, don't question your life's work as being "noble" or "common," that is for the Lord to decide.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Is 29:15-16, Matt 1, Lk 2:16, Lk 3:23, Rom 9:19-21

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