LUKE 1:48

For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.

TO PONDER

The above verse is part of the song that Mary sang after she arrived at Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin and 6 months pregnant with the man who would become John the Baptist. So first, let us review what led up to this point. Mary, a young engaged woman, possibly about 16 years old, is at home when she suddenly finds a strange, but awesome, man in her room. Mary freaks out, but the visitor sooths her fears and says he has a special message for her from God. She will get pregnant without having sex – as a miracle from God – and she will deliver a boy child who will have a massive impact on the world. And by the way, her very post-menopausal cousin, Elizabeth, is miraculously pregnant and in her sixth month. Mary’s response to the angel, if translated into Aussie lingo, might be something like “no worries, I’ll do what you ask”. The excited Mary then rushes off to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth meets Mary, she gets very excited too and the six-month-old baby, John, in her uterus joins in the excitement. Elizabeth and Mary then share some Holy Spirit inspired exchanges, the above verse being part of Mary’s contribution.

Mary has no illusions about her deserving in any way the honour of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son, and then the responsibility of raising this child. She happily accepted the part she was given to play and let God take responsibility of the rest. For example, she didn’t have to work out how to escape the murderous plans of Herod; God did that.

I sometime wonder if when we feel God is calling us to do something for Him, we baulk at the task because we see it taking us far beyond our comfort zone or our ability. But in reality, God is just calling us to go, and He will do the difficult stuff. Thinking about Mary, all God was asking her to do was carry and give birth to a baby, something that she had every expectation she would be doing anyway after she married Joseph.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for inviting us to be part of your family and to be involved in your family business.  Please help us to grow in trust in your promises to be with us as we obediently follow where you lead us in serving you and sharing the good news of your love for everyone. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping