It’s the New Year, a time for new beginnings, a time for reflection over the past and a preponderance over the future. What may come my way in 2024? Is their fear in your heart over the future or excitement for what is to come?
On the Hebrew calendar it is the year 5784. It is the year of THE OPEN DOOR. Sounds exciting doesn’t it? What doors is the Lord going to open for me this year?
As I sit reflecting, my thoughts turn to Joseph in Matthew 1. One moment his future was certain, the next minute Mary tells him, “I’m pregnant. I am with child by the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.” What ran through his mind as he pondered her words, maybe, “Is she crazy? Most definitely she was unfaithful.” Joseph was facing a dilemma. What to do?
Decisions. We make a decision every second of every day. What to do? What to eat? How to exercise? What to wear? The list is endless. Some decisions are life changing. Joseph’s was. What to do with Mary? If he divorced her she would be stoned. So he decides, He makes a firm decision. He would put her away quietly. That was it. No more weighing the outcome. No more going back and forth with himself. This was what he was going to do… Until God entered into the equation.
”When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.“
Matthew 1:24-25 NLT
This New Year 2024 or on the Hebrew calendar 5784 THE YEAR OF THE OPEN DOOR, may we be as Joseph, the dreamer, pause a moment, consider the decisions, and watch for God to open HIS door. Joseph was about to walk into the unknown. He had no idea what his future looked like now. He only knew he must obey the Lord’s messenger. God had only opened this door so far. He would walk through the only open one and trust God for the next. Then…
Joseph – his name means – God shall add. I love that. How exciting. When Joseph walked through God’s open door and married the woman of his dreams, God added to Joseph THE SON WHO WOULD TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD!
I pray all our doors will opened by God and that we will walk through them with faith!