Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. As a man, I am so inspired by Joseph's faithfulness and action. Have you ever heard someone referring to another person as "all talk?" There's this part of guys that is constantly battling to be the best. I can remember stories being told in my college football locker room by one guy, and another would say "Oh come on, you're all talk!"In the scriptures, we see a model of manhood in Joseph that shows us he was "all action." We never hear words spoken by Joseph, we only hear words spoken to him. Following the words of the angel of the Lord to Joseph, he is always quick to act. He is a man of ACTION!!! Check out one example from the following quote in today's readings:
"... the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.' Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt." Matthew 2:13-14As the earthly father of Jesus, Joseph would have been the man who taught Jesus how to be a man. Sounds like some task huh? Imagine raising the Son of God and teaching him how to be a real man. If Joseph was good enough to teach Jesus how to be a man, then he's definitely someone I have lots to learn from. I guess I can start by becoming a man who "does" more and "talks" less.
I'll pose the challenge for all men reading this to spend this day as a man of action. Remember we have nothing to prove to anyone except our Lord Jesus Christ. When we start concerning ourselves with Christ alone, it is then that we will become powerful witnesses to the world. He proves his love for us, its time we start proving our love for him. It's time we stop the talk and PROVE IT like Joseph did. So what's the Lord asking you to DO?
-Tim Hanley
Hard as Nails Ministries
Newark, NJ
