This Scripture is a portion of Mary's praises to God after she conceives the Christ Child and arrives at her cousin Elizabeth's home for a three month visit.
But let's back track a few verses.
Have you ever noticed that before Mary gives her humbled assent to Gabriel that she would have the Lord use her for His purpose (Luke 1:38), the angel first tells her about Mary's aged and barren relative, Elizabeth, who miraculously is now 'with child'.
Can you imagine what was running through Mary's mind at that incredible news of her cousin?
Elizabeth, shamed by her community (see last week's devotion HERE), perceived as cursed according to Old Testament teaching from the Word of God, barren all her married years - and now too old to bear a child anyhow.
But Gabriel spills the news to Mary when she inquires of him how can she become a mother when she is still a virgin. Why did he tell her just then? Why does he respond to her question with the news that Elizabeth is to bear a son even though she is very old?
Faith?
Mary would well know about the shame of her aged cousin's barrenness. To discover now that this curse was lifted, that an old and unused womb was full with a son!? The JOY that must have risen in her heart for Elizabeth!
And in the very next verse, what does she say to Gabriel?
"I am the servant of the Lord. let this happen to me as you say!"
You know, Mary was a woman like you and me. Created by a loving God for a purpose that only He knew about. And like us in our humanity, I believe God knew she needed a little 'proof' of what He could do before she made the biggest and most life altering decision of her life, and the world's.
I also find it interesting that as soon as Gabriel leaves, Mary gets up and goes quickly to a town in the hills of Judea to see Elizabeth - to see what the angel had told her.
And then comes Mary's song of praise (Luke 1: 46-55) - read it and your heart will soar.
This has encouraged me to remember that God knows I am but dust, and that I sometimes need a little proof before I launch myself out onto a path I believe He is asking me to take - not all the time, but sometimes. And that's okay.
Bless you heaps,
Download the printable Scripture card and devotion HERE.
2 comments:
Another thing to remember is how very young Mary most probably was. And yet even in her very youth she STILL found it in herself to give herself over completely to God and trust in Him that all would be well. I find that hard to do at 57 sometimes. Yes she had grown up knowing that someday a young woman would carry the Messiah. She had heard that teaching from her earliest days at the synagogue. But to be chosen and know that you had to convince others that YOU were the ONE they had been talking about, it would have seemed to be asking so much. Her song is one of the most beautiful in the Bible. Mary so trusted in her God. We also have to realize that Jesus had not yet come to tell us about Him as a Father. He was still Old Testament yet she felt so close to Him. Mary is indeed someone that we can try to emulate.
All God asks is that we trust Him - amazing how difficult that can be sometimes! But He never lets us down and He does constantly show us that we can trust Him and take Him at His word.
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