Matthew 1:20-21 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

In life group last night the question was asked, “When did Joseph marry Mary?” Interesting question. I wasn’t sure. This is something I would have to research. As I opened my bible to search this verse appeared before me. We had been reading from Luke 1 and 2 last night, so this verse had not been read.

Notice the angel refers to Mary as “thy wife”. Joseph had not yet received her into his home. The custom of those times was that the parents of children formed a contract of betrothal which as an agreed upon amount of a dowry was paid for the bride, that wedding contract was binding, even though they lived apart until their home was ready for the groom to receive her.

Matthew 1:24-25 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.

Although there is no mention of a wedding feast, verse 24 implies that Joseph fulfilled this portion of the wedding contract immediately after waking from the dream in which the angel spoke to him. The third part of the contract was not performed until after Jesus was born, the consummation of the marriage.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If you have received Jesus Christ into your heart, you are the bride and await His coming to take you into that home prepared for you.

1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (NASB)

Yesterday I ended the devotional with the comment “And you still have not sinned but all the warning signs are there.” Having a positional advantage over someone else is not a sin. What you do with that advantage could be sin. It is like coming to a crossroad and having to make a decision about which way to turn. At the crossroads you will have signs telling you, instructing you as to which path leads where.

In my thesis called “Walking in the Spirit” I spent the better part of that section on the pure heart. It is the most important part of sound judgment. An evil heart will look to the signs at the crossroads and see perhaps lust or greed as the desirable path and ignore the one marked righteousness.

David’s sin of 2 Samuel 11 was created not so much by his true heart condition as it was by the pondering observations of looking down the path to lust. It held his eye which is the vehicle of coveting. Looking back to 2 Samuel 11 David asked directions at this point. His “What’s down there?”

2 Samuel 11:3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

That did not change his focus and he went down that road far enough to sin. Once he had, he dismissed her, sending her back home. If his heart had been for her, he would have kept her. But he did not and sin and the consequences for sin kept going down the wrong path even though David chose to leave it. Leaving a sin does not dissolve the consequences of the act.

Only a pure heart will keep your eye perfectly focused on the path to righteousness, no matter the crossroads we encounter.