Greetings You Who Are Highly Favored
Read Luke 1:26-30
Today’s Truth
With the angelic proclamation, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!”, we have our first introduction to Mary in Luke’s Gospel. Because of this lofty declaration, we often think of Mary as the model of obedience, the picture of a perfect follower of God.
Now to be sure, being selected to bear the Son of God is indeed a high honor, but the extraordinary thing about Mary was that she was so ordinary. Living in a small village, not in the religious center of Jerusalem, she was a young girl in a culture that valued age and men. She later calls herself poor and lowly.
God chooses Mary because she has nothing. When she asks, “How will this be?”, it is a practical question. She’s old enough to know how this works and knows that there’s a step missing in the process.
Mary discovers what all Christians must learn. When God calls us, we are not capable of accomplishing the task on our own. Only God can provide what we need. Through miraculous intervention, Mary goes from unwed virgin to the mother of the Christ child.
By embracing her calling, Mary becomes a partner with God in bringing the Kingdom here on earth. Without God’s intervention, Mary could not become pregnant. Without Mary as a human mother, Jesus could not be born as one of us. This is God’s design, for us to work together to give life to the Kingdom here on earth.
God’s call transforms us from people who are incapable on our own to those for whom, with God’s help, nothing is impossible. We, like Mary, have been chosen by God, not because of anything we have or have done, but because God wants to have a relationship with us. We are indeed highly favored.
Discussion Questions
- How have you felt incapable or inadequate to do what God has called you to do?
- Have you ever witnessed God’s miraculous provision when you chose to follow his calling?
Application
God, who calls and provides,
May we recognize the gifts you have given us and remember how truly favored we are. Help me to listen closely for your calling and to be quick to obey, even when I don’t fully understand the whys and the hows. During this season of Advent, help me to use the unique gifts you have given me to breathe life into your Kingdom on earth, both now and all year long.
