THE MASTER’S STAMP

Matthew 1:18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

Anytime I have read the genealogy of Jesus as presented in Matthew’s Gospel, my mind often goes to those names who in the eyes of many, did not warrant a place on the list, yet mercy found them. However, reading the list again today, my mind was cast to the opening words of the eighteenth verse “the birth of Jesus Christ came about this way”.

I paused for a moment because come to think about it, the story could have been very different. All that was required would have been an additional character or a change in location. But no, the birth of Christ came about ‘this way’. In other words, all the ingredients surrounding the story had to be present for it to be ‘this way’.

I think every now and again we may look back at our lives, especially at the decisions we have made and realise that all it would have taken was “one variable” to alter the entire course of our lives. The connections we would have made, the people, the lessons, the experiences, everything could have been different. Yet, there was an insistent force that our stories are told “this way”.

Why? I couldn’t tell you, but I can tell you that there is a master script writer who wanted your path exactly as you see it. What you deem successes, coincidences, disappointments or heartaches, are the very ingredients your story needed. I apologise if I have no clearer answers for you, but your story was meant to unfold ‘this way’ so that whenever it is retold, the stamp of the master becomes evident.

#sly