Hi Friends,
The most wonderful time of the year is here and it seems to fly by as the years come and go. This year allows many of us to reflect on our time spent this year, memories made as we’ve grown, and how special life is. There are those who will always say Christmas is a commercialized holiday but to me I love to sit and think about what it would have been like to be any of the people alive and involved in the story of the birth of Jesus. I think about the willingness of those involved. The willingness of each person is what enables us to have Jesus in our hearts and the Holy Spirit active in each of us. It’s that same willingness that will lead us to fulfill the words spoken over our own lives.
Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist) was talking to Mary and said a verse that sticks more than normal around this time of the year. Luke 1:45 “You are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what He said.” Mary had a blessing. The blessing came from her faith, her belief. But what proved she had faith and belief? Her obedience showed it. Think about it. Can you be a Christian but not believe in Jesus? Nope. It’s not possible. You need the belief in Jesus to have the ability to be a Christian and live like one. Both are necessary. Each part requires the other. Mary’s obedience needed something to be obedient in and it was the call, the responsibility that was given to her and she believed in it. It was Mary’s willingness to be the vessel that would carry the Lord’s most valuable gift to the world. She was blessed but obedience brings blessing. It has to be genuine and from the heart. When I think about what life could be like in that era I think about how much she probably had to put on the line. She was engaged, now pregnant with her fiancé not being the father, young, and yet she was the one that got chosen. She identified as a servant and a lowly one at that. That meant she was humble enough to obey and do it with a willing heart. You can be obedient but have an unwilling heart. She had what was required. For a long time people heard stories, prophecies, whispers of what was to come and it was given to her. Luke 1:48 says the Lord took notice of His lowly servant girl and that all generations would call her blessed.
As many know how the story goes, she got married to Joseph, she had Jesus in a stable, and Jesus came to seek and save the lost. But what would have happened if Mary had not kept herself, if she wasn’t humble, if she wasn’t willing? Now ask yourself are you willing to steward whatever the Lord places in your hands. What the Lord places in you is just as important because it’ll lead people to the very person of Jesus. The Lord has greatness for you. Mary’s greatness was that she was carrying the Savior of the world. What would the world look like with your yes? You might not be carrying Jesus but what you carry is special and the Lord is relying on your willingness to do what’s required of you.
I know it’s Christmas and all is very merry and bright. There are people who need the merry and bright inside of you. You are a city on the hill, you carry light, you have something so special that only you can carry. Be willing not just this holiday season but everyday. Do exactly what the Lord tells you to do and in that blessing will come too. When you think about what there could even but on the line just remember what could happen if you do and it will outweigh the possibility of not carrying it out. I think about what if I never started writing or playing or acting on anything God placed inside of me. There are people who have told me testimonies of songs I've sung and things I’ve written. What I do is important and what you do is important too. Think about what Mary was willing to do and how wonderful a life with Jesus is because the world would be a very different place had we not been graced with both. Be willing, the Lord is waiting on your yes.
