Life Tremors

I read something today that was earth shaking.

Take a second to read it too.

26In 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. 28And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He 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, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"
35And 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. 36And 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. 37For nothing will be impossible with God." 38And 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. {Luke 1:26-38}

This was Mary's reply when an Angel sent from God told her she would give birth to a son. A son that she would carry all her own. She was a virgin. She would remain a virgin. And when she was faced with the most outrageous, jaw-dropping, miraculous task in history THIS is what she said.

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.

A woman, like you and me, who was young and about to be married to a man who was of a King's lineage. She didn't say NO. She didn't try to wiggle her way out of it. She didn't disobey or doubt. She simply had faith. From her simple gesture the world was changed by her son, Jesus.

All my life, I've heard the Christmas story. I've even heard conter-Christmas stories. That Christmas is really just a pagan holiday that we merged with the birth of Jesus so that everyone could be happy. WHATEVER the reason we celebrate this time of year, I want this much to be true in my life: When I am faced with the craziest, most insane idea and task God has asked me to do I want to have Mary's reply.

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.

To have a Savior is the greatest gift I have ever been given. To have THAT kind of Faith in Him would be the greatest gift I could ever give him back.

{p.s, I couldn't help but share this with you. Sitting in Zaxby's I read this and was in tears at the beauty of the Faith that Mary had, not only to give birth to JESUS! but faced with all the social constrains of that Day... I know I would not have had the same answer. And that shames me. God is merciful, though, and I'm so glad I read this. I want to be faithful like Mary, and take on the craziness and awesomeness of God's will. }