And now about Joseph (and good dads everywhere)

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”  Hosea 11:1

Good dads.  We know them when we see them ...

Good dads protect their children from harm while equipping them to fight life's battles.  Good dads caution their children about life while encouraging them to grow up and live it well.  Good dads discipline their children for what they have done while affirming them for who they are.  Good dads embrace their children while preparing them to venture out on their own.  Good dads share words of wisdom while wisely knowing when to let their children figure things out themselves.  Good dads teach their children to be strong enough to stand alone and then stronger still to understand their need for others.

Their families seek them and surround them, living and loving in an unseen security and safety of the soul.  We know them when we see them, good dads.

Which brings us to Joseph.  We often hear about the prophecy fulfilled in Mary, “God with us” by way of virgin birth.  But God made good on yet another promise, this time through Joseph, the man he tapped to raise his Son. 

For it was Joseph who listened to God and led his family safely to Egypt, out of the grasp of the brutal King Herod the Great.  And when the angel told Joseph to lead the Christ child and his mother back from Egypt – thereby fulfilling Hosea’s Messianic prophecy – he settled his family in Galilee, protecting them this time from Herod’s equally brutal son, Archelaus, who reigned in Judea.

Joseph.  Humble enough to trust God and obey him ... compassionate enough to spare his wife from shame ... watchful enough to shield his family from harm.  And apparently an all-around good dad, for “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)”

Here’s to you, Joseph!  And to good dads everywhere.

[To see the daily reading in Hosea 11:1-9, click here.]