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| Sweet Little Angel Ellie ~ 2006 |
Friday, December 23, 2011
What If Mary Had Said No?
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
A friend of mine posed the question, "How many other Mary's did the Angel ask?"
So I started thinking about this. God knew that Mary, the mother of Jesus, would say yes but he also gave us free will. Do you think the angel asked other young ladies to be the mother of the savior of the world and they said, "no"?
Don't you think they would have been obedient to God's calling? But would I have? I mean in the last few years I have become very cognisant of when God is asking me to do something and when I am willfully disobedient or when I just refuse to listen. And the stuff He is asking me is pretty minimal compared to mothering his one and only Son.
Do you think they would have been able to stop believing the lies they believe? The lies that she isn't good enough for her friends or to be a good mom or to be a good wife?....let alone believe that she is good enough to be the mother of God's son?
These questions have been speaking to me this week. I say no to God at times when I am afraid. And really what he is asking me is small, so small...pick up the phone, talk to that person, write that e-mail. What if Mary had said, "no" because she was afraid or not willing to take the risk or just didn't really feel up to it or didn't want to change the course of her life quite that drastically or didn't feel like she was good enough?
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
A friend of mine posed the question, "How many other Mary's did the Angel ask?"
So I started thinking about this. God knew that Mary, the mother of Jesus, would say yes but he also gave us free will. Do you think the angel asked other young ladies to be the mother of the savior of the world and they said, "no"?
Don't you think they would have been obedient to God's calling? But would I have? I mean in the last few years I have become very cognisant of when God is asking me to do something and when I am willfully disobedient or when I just refuse to listen. And the stuff He is asking me is pretty minimal compared to mothering his one and only Son.
Do you think they would have been able to stop believing the lies they believe? The lies that she isn't good enough for her friends or to be a good mom or to be a good wife?....let alone believe that she is good enough to be the mother of God's son?
Sunday, December 4, 2011
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