December 3, 2021
Luke 1:26-38 26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; [a]blessed are you among women!”
29 But [b]when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I [c]do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
A carpenter and a 14 yr old girl are going to raise the King of Kings. Can we even imagine how we would react if God came to us with this most amazing request? It seems to be the perfect example of God not calling the qualified, but qualifying the called. I am pretty sure that my first response might be to RUN as fast & as far as I can. (although, Jonah tried that & it didn’t work out so well for him). But not Mary. Mary responds with a song. Luke 1:46-55. 46)And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47)and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, 48)for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant…. Without hesitation, she is ready and praising God. I wonder if she, in that moment, gave much thought to what Joseph would say. She knew she had not been with a man, but what would HE think? Yet, it doesn’t say anything about her fear, it only tells us how she sang. It is highly likely that in those days a young girl who was betrothed to another would suffer great embarrassment and disgrace. She may have been put out of her betroths’ home, her family home and possibly even the city. But she had faith, she knew if God had sent an angel, that He had a plan and was going to take care of everything else.
Today as we prepare our hearts for the birth of our savior, let’s remember… with faith, everything is possible. If God can orchestrate the birth of the Most High King, He can handle our lives too. Praising God for the gift of this miracle birth.