A CHRISTMAS STORY (3): MARY
What’s the picture on your box? Is it you?
Sometimes our life becomes all about ourselves.
We can sometimes completely miss God. Even if we have the best intentions.
SCRIPTURE“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly” (Luke 1:5-6 NIV).
“Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside” (Luke 1:8-10 NIV).
Sometimes even those of us who are focused on God miss Him completely.
Mary wasn’t the type of person you would expect to be visited by an angel. She was not born great, and what the angel said to her put her in an incredibly dangerous position.
The angel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end . . . The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:30-37 NIV).
Instead of saying, “God, bless me,” Mary’s prayer is the complete opposite, “God, how can I bless you?”
“‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said’” (Luke 1:38 NIV).
APPLICATION:Mary realized she was a small piece in a much bigger puzzle.
When life is focused on who we are, how we look and what we bring to the table, those are the moments that we miss God when He shows up.
Life is really simple. I’ve got to let God be God. And I’ve got to be me. And I’m good at being me when I’m me, and I’m bad at being God. But God is really good at being God.
It’s really not about us and the mark we make on the world in this life. It’s about how God makes a mark through us on the world we encounter every day.
BOTTOM LINE: The size of your story depends on the size of your God.