Really?? Me??!

Survived the torturathon of tests that was November. Did well, giving me yet another thing to be thankful over the Thanksgiving holiday. I had a good one with friends and family. The end of Thanksgiving is always an exciting time as we start decorating for Christmas at my house. By far my favorite holiday of the year. I love the anticipation of Christmas and all the traditions that go along with it, the songs, presents, movies, etc.

I was thinking about the real Christmas, ya know the one with the baby Jesus. It's such a powerful story of God's love for us. Arguably the most interesting part of the story occurs near the beginning. I find Mary's story to be such an interesting one. She was the one God chose to be the human mother of His son. Mary, a 14 year old virgin pledged to marry a noble man, Joseph. An angel explains to Mary, "for you have found favor with God". Wait...did Mary earn this honor? I don't think that's what this means.

Think about it...is this really such a blessing for Mary? Not only will she be thought of as an adulterer and possibly shunned by her family and friends. Not to mention embarrassing her husband to be, Joseph. She will then have to deal with the task of raising a young boy who runs off to the temple to teach scholars, who has to run from a King that wants her son dead, will have to watch her son grow into a man whose teachings will infuriate the religious leaders. She will be forced to watch her son die a horrible, humiliating death. Sounds like quite the blessing huh?

A pastor brought up the point that the Greek in the text actually means that God bestowed his grace on Mary. Basically, when he chose Mary, he didn't leave her high and dry...he gave her the grace she'd need to complete this task.

Mary was an ordinary person....I am an ordinary person, and I'm guessing any readers of this blog are as well. What does this story mean for us?? God can choose any of us at any time to do His work. We must keep our eyes and hearts open for His calling and be willing to accept the gift of His grace to complete the task he lays before us.

Check out Luke 1-2 to read into Mary's story...until next time.