Mary - A Humble Offering

Mary said, "I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!" Then the angel went away. Luke 1:38 (NCV)

This Christmas season has brought a certain depth of thought to my mind on the subject of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I wonder what her personality was like. Was she shy or outgoing? What was special about her that God would choose her to be the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, over the other young women? How awesome it would have been to know her; to be a part of her life!

Let's take a walk back in time and visit the life of Mary. She was a young woman, engaged to be married, and like us, she would be dreaming about her wedding day. The day the angel greeted her and told her the news about her miracle conception, her life changed drastically. She faced some cultural risks we would not. A young unmarried girl who became pregnant would face consequences such as being rejected by her fianc� and probably remain unmarried for life. If her father rejected her she could be forced into begging or prostitution in order to earn a living. Add to that the likelihood of being called a crazy woman when she tried to tell the story about being made pregnant by the Holy Spirit! Yet, in spite of it all, her immediate response was "let it happen!"

At that moment, she would not have recalled the prophesies, or understood the tremendous opportunity and privilege of being the mother of Jesus. She was unpretentious. She simply trusted the words of the angel and willingly offered herself to serve God. In the eyes of the world, her life was ruined. But she believed the words the angel spoke in verse 37; with God, nothing will be impossible.

I want to be like Mary. She was chosen to serve God; just an ordinary gal who made herself available to God. Her character was revealed by her response to the unexpected. She did not seek status or fame in the eyes of the world. She humbly offered her life and trusted God to use her to do the impossible.

We lift our voices, we lift our hands
We lift our lives up to You
We are an offering

Lord use our voices, Lord use our hands
Lord use our lives they are Yours
We are an offering

All that we have, all that we are
All that we hope to be we give to You
We give to You

We lift our voices, we lift our hands
We lift our lives up to You
We are an offering, we are an offering. Dwight Liles

Janet Stutzman