Matthew 2:13 (NIV) When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

I many times wonder what Joseph and Mary were feeling after the birth of Jesus. After all the stress of trying to find a place for Mary to give birth and then actually experiencing the birth of the Messiah along with the unexpected visit of the shepherds from Bethlehem, I’m sure that reality had to hit them at some point. After all, this was the Son of God! How do you care for the Son of God? Were there any special instructions that they had to follow? Was the Angel Gabriel going to make another appearance for further guidance? Although there was one more miraculous surprise that they would experience, which was the visit from the Magi, perhaps life would settle down and they would be able to figure everything out. But it was not to be.

Shortly after the Magi left to head back to their country, Joseph was warned in a dream to escape to Egypt to get away from King Herod who was looking for the child to kill Him. I am pretty certain that it was then that the costly gifts that the Magi gave to Jesus began to make sense. They had given the new-born King gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were all very valuable items. They were going to need those gifts to survive in a new country until Joseph could find a way to make a living in Egypt for a while. What we see is that life kept happening. There was no time to slow down and take it all in. Everything was moving so quickly, but what kept Joseph and Mary was that it was God orchestrating the whole thing. Life did not become normal after Christmas Day, but was a great adventure that would prove that the Lord was with them, watching over their every move. God was with them and ordering their every step. They were learning how to fully depend on God and to trust Him for even helping to take care of the Savior of the World until He would come into His own and fulfill His mission on earth. I can think of no greater privilege and responsibility than that.

In the same way, the day that Jesus was born in our hearts was an amazing, miraculous experience that turned our whole world upside-down, or better said, right-side up! After that, you would think that you should settle down into a normal life, but that is not what should happen. Once you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you find that there are enemies, beginning with Satan, that will try to look for Jesus in you to kill your devotion to Him. But you also find that those enemies can’t touch you as long as the Lord is watching over your life, and that happens when you surrender control of your life to Him. You learn to depend on Him for everything in your life and you begin to live the greatest adventure that there is on this earth. Just like Joseph and Mary’s lives were totally changed because of Jesus, so too are our lives changed when we truly have Him as not only our Savior but also as our Lord. Trust Jesus for every step in your life as Joseph and Mary had to do. As you do, you will find safe passage and will discover a whole new world of awe and wonder as you continue to follow Jesus!

Pastor Joey Vazquez