Joseph Awoke and Did

Matthew 1:24 (NKJV) Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him...

I think this is the crux of the matter in things pertaining to God (or anything He has given into our responsibility). Many of us as Christians receive the dream, vision or direction from God, but we seem to awake out of “sleep”—perhaps our time spent with God—and then act as if that direction were a far off dream, something from our sleep.

There are four main parts to making our time with God's word profitable and effective: Absorption, interpretation, meditation and application. Many of us get lost just at the absorption part. Perhaps we just rush over our daily reading/devotions with little concentration.

Interpretation is, of course, where we discover or uncover what the scripture passage really means.

Meditation is where we make that a source for our new thoughts and motivations by ingraining it into our minds.

The final step, application, where I take it and make it my new pattern of daily living, is what makes the difference in accomplishing God's will in our lives. The good thing is that Joseph did that after he awoke from his dream of the angel, so Jesus was born and taken care of as God intended.

It is my prayer that, like Joseph, I will do what I have been commanded whence I am aroused from sleep.