In light of the Christmas season, I bring you this. (Who knew CeeLo Green would ever sing about Jesus?!)
Mary Did You Know?
So, apparently there is going to be a movie about the Bible coming out in March...exciting, sort of...
I do get a little anxious about Hollywood's depiction of Jesus and other Biblical truths, they tend to get a little skewed.
But all else aside. While watching this video I started to cry and it's not surprising, but it is refreshing. I see Mary and think, she was young, eager, and really ready to do this. Her response was how can the Lord use me? and then, so willingly she said "I am the Lord's servant, let it be according to His will" (Luke1).
I wonder in the same way that Mary did, how can God use me? I am either not at the right point in life, or don't have this skill or quality. And I think God, you want to use me to do that?! There's no way! But I realize now, like Mary probably realized after Jesus' death that He used her to fulfill His purpose, regardless of her qualifications, and in the end , the story wasn't about Mary at all. It was about Jesus. It is about Jesus.
I don't think Mary knew what was going to happen to Jesus, and she probably would have had a lot more questions if she had. But the Lord led her in the way she should go and in the end her life helped proclaim the Gospel of Christ.
(Now, I do realize that in some realms of Christianity that Mary is worshiped) but instead of worshiping her, we should worship the God that was capable of using a virgin girl to bring the Savior physically into this world. And maybe we should think of Mary in terms of how to respond to God's call. With Humility and Willingness.
This Christmas realize that it all begins and ends with Christ and this is how it should be with your own life. Mary's story began and ended with Christ. When I go, I pray that everyone remembers the work of the Lord, not mine.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:26-38 ESV)
Merry Christmas
-e
