"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate."

In Matthew chapter 23, we see that Israel was given the same chance Joseph had. They were offered the same choice. True peace arrived. It exposed their fake peace. It offered to replace their forged peace with something eternal, something real, something that could actually save them.

And they refused.

Listen to the heartbreak in Jesus' voice. "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" Jesus wanted to gather them. Jesus wanted to protect them. Jesus wanted to give them the peace they had been searching for. But they were not willing.

The difference between Joseph and Israel is not information. Both received divine revelation. Both understood what God was offering. Both had every opportunity to respond. The difference is response. Joseph obeyed. Israel resisted.

Here's what I need you to know. The same choice stands before us today. It is either the peace we follow or the peace we forfeit. There is no third option. You cannot stay neutral. Refusing to choose is itself a choice.

Some of you came into this week thinking peace meant getting your circumstances to line up. You thought if your spouse would just change, if your kids would just cooperate, if your finances would just stabilize, if your job would just work out, then you would have peace. But that is not how it works.

Peace is not the absence of chaos. Peace is the presence of Christ in the chaos. Peace is not when everything resolves. Peace is when Jesus becomes the center regardless of what resolves.

Jesus was literally the peace in Joseph's family. Present among them. Emmanuel. God with us. And He becomes the peace in any family who responds as Joseph did. Not through the removal of disruption but through faithful obedience in the midst of it.

Right now, Jesus stands at the door of your family, offering the same thing He offered Joseph. He is offering to be your peace. Not religion. Not church attendance. Not moral improvement. Jesus Himself.

The only question is whether you will respond like Joseph or like Israel. Will you receive Him? Will you surrender to Him? Will you let Him become the center of your home?

The choice is yours. And the time to choose is now.

1. As you look back on this week's devotionals, what is one thing God has revealed about the peace in your family that you need to address?

2. What specific step of obedience is God asking you to take today in response to what you have learned?

Make a decision today. Write down your commitment to make Jesus the center of your family. Share it with your spouse or a trusted friend who can hold you accountable. Then take one concrete action to begin living it out this week.