25 Days of Christmas
On the twentieth day of Christmas, my Bible said to me...Mary gave herself over to the service of Christ.
Today's Reading: Luke 1:26-45
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And 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 bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”35 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. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 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.39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Through the Bible Readings: Zephaniah 1-2, Revelation 9, Psalm 144:12–15, Proverbs31:3-4
If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings.
Devotional: The Servant of the Lord
No movie could ever equal the drama that took place the night the angel appeared to a simple Galilean peasant girl. The attempts throughout Christian history to deify Mary have obfuscated the central truth of the story. She was normal, nobody special - an average girl in Nazareth whom God chose for his work. And that average peasant girl from Nazareth was suddenly in the presence of an angel - a shining, bright, heavenly warrior.
And the story he told! She was to conceive a child without being with a man, a child who would be the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel. Her son was the One! And after all of that, at the end of the shocking, amazing, life-changing conversation, she said something that indicated that her heart was where all of our hearts need to be.
Do you think anyone believed that the child she was bearing was the result of a miracle? No one in Nazareth bought the virgin birth story - that's probably why she went to visit Elizabeth, to get away from wagging tongues. Remember when Jesus was grown and Mary pushed him to do a miracle? Why did she do that? Could it be that she was tired of being doubted and wanted Jesus to prove that he was who she'd said he was? "Jesus, if you'd just do a miracle, maybe these people would start believing me after all these years." Maybe? Of course, none of the hardships of her life compared to the pain of watching her son ridiculed, tortured, nailed to a cross, and executed for the sins of the world. It was on Golgotha that the sword of Simeon stabbed her heart.
And I am sure that if you could ask Mary she would say that she wouldn't change a thing. Serving God is worth it even if it painful. She was the servant of God and she was willing to do whatever God wanted. That is the nature of serving God. The servant does not tell the master how things are going to be. We sometimes forget that, don't we? The servant submits himself or herself fully to the will of the master. "Your will, not my will, be done."
Mary got it. The kingdom of God is not a resort where we check in to be pampered by God and have all our wants, wishes, desires, and dreams fulfilled. The kingdom is an army and we are the soldiers fighting under the command of our conquering hero, Jesus. The kingdom is a hospital and we are the nurses serving the Great Physician.
And the story he told! She was to conceive a child without being with a man, a child who would be the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel. Her son was the One! And after all of that, at the end of the shocking, amazing, life-changing conversation, she said something that indicated that her heart was where all of our hearts need to be.
Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.Of course, she said that, you might think. She got to be famous, the mother of the Son of God. She would be honored and respected throughout time. But think through that a little more carefully. Becoming Jesus' mother was not about being honored and respected. Simeon told her in the Temple that a sword would pierce her heart and that was no exaggeration. Mary lived a difficult life.
Do you think anyone believed that the child she was bearing was the result of a miracle? No one in Nazareth bought the virgin birth story - that's probably why she went to visit Elizabeth, to get away from wagging tongues. Remember when Jesus was grown and Mary pushed him to do a miracle? Why did she do that? Could it be that she was tired of being doubted and wanted Jesus to prove that he was who she'd said he was? "Jesus, if you'd just do a miracle, maybe these people would start believing me after all these years." Maybe? Of course, none of the hardships of her life compared to the pain of watching her son ridiculed, tortured, nailed to a cross, and executed for the sins of the world. It was on Golgotha that the sword of Simeon stabbed her heart.
And I am sure that if you could ask Mary she would say that she wouldn't change a thing. Serving God is worth it even if it painful. She was the servant of God and she was willing to do whatever God wanted. That is the nature of serving God. The servant does not tell the master how things are going to be. We sometimes forget that, don't we? The servant submits himself or herself fully to the will of the master. "Your will, not my will, be done."
Mary got it. The kingdom of God is not a resort where we check in to be pampered by God and have all our wants, wishes, desires, and dreams fulfilled. The kingdom is an army and we are the soldiers fighting under the command of our conquering hero, Jesus. The kingdom is a hospital and we are the nurses serving the Great Physician.
We go where God sends us.Like Mary, we say, "let it be to me according to your word," because, "I am a servant of the Lord."
We say what God says.
We do what God commands.
We obey God's word, live according to God's ways, and follow God's will.
Father, help me to see as you see. May I never see myself as a lord, but as a servant, one who lives as you please, according to your word.
Think and Pray :
Do you have a proper understanding of the kingdom of God?
Do you see yourself as a servant obeying God and doing as he commands, or do you see God as your servant to help you get whatever you want out of life?
Do you see yourself as a servant obeying God and doing as he commands, or do you see God as your servant to help you get whatever you want out of life?
Carol of the Day:
*The angel Gabriel from heaven came,His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame,All hail, said he, thou lowly maiden Mary!Most highly favoured Lady, Gloria!For known a blessed mother thou shalt be,All generations laud and honour thee,Thy son shall be Emmanuel by seers foretold,Most highly favoured Lady, Gloria!Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,"To me be as it pleaseth God," she said,"my soul shall laud and magnify his holy Name."Most highly favoured Lady, Gloria!Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was bornin Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,and Christian folk throughout the world will ever say,Most highly favoured Lady, Gloria!
*A translation of a Basque folk carol called "The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came"
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