What Would You Do?

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Today's Passage: Luke 1: 26-38
Memory Verse: Luke 1: 37-38

She was a young girl, probably no older than sixteen.  Promised to a young man named Joseph, she had the safe, secure life of a Jewess.  Until THE CALL came.  What would you do if you were going about your life the same as usual, and the Creator of the universe stopped you in your tracks to request your service?  Actually, not request at all, but demand.  Even though she could have totally refused, she didn't.

But you and I both know she had a few seconds to stop and count the cost this demand would require of her.  Carry a child when I haven't yet known a man?  She asked the angel.  I would have asked the same.  But when he told her that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and make possible something that would normally be impossible to human beings, she stopped her fretting and knew by faith that God had already thought of everything that needed to be done in order to bring this thing to pass.

So when the whispers began, and people around her started saying things (as they will do when they don't understand what God has told you), she was able to hold her head high.  The deep confidence that God gives us in the words, "I know what I'm doing" allowed her to carry that baby as he grew strong inside her.  If she didn't know anything else, the promise of God's plan to use her was her lifeline.    Isn't it also awesome that God manifested Himself to all the people who needed to know just enough to agree on being a part?  Joseph, the fiance, had to be let in on his role in the plan so that he could agree to marry her. 

Every year that we celebrate this wonderful story, we rejoice at how great God is for deciding to trust a human being with His Son.  But I don't think we really grasp how important Mary and Joseph were in the whole scheme of things.  They had to come into agreement with being ridiculed, scorned, possibly even rejected for not following the traditions of the day.  That's why their simple "yes" meant more than anything else they could've told the Lord when their lives were required of them. 

As you arise and begin your day, think about what your response will be when the Lord calls you.  Have you counted the cost yet?  Have you added up the fact that the Father has already seen the end from the beginning, and knows what it'll take to put each piece of the puzzle together?  He really does know what He's doing.  Why don't you let Him use you today?

Prayer:  Father, every time I read this story, I realize that Your call on my life is just as important as what You called Mary and Joseph to do.  You require a sacrificial walk, completely focused on being totally devoted to Your will and plan for my life.  I ask today that You prepare me the way you did them.  Let me daily walk in Your grace, knowing that nothing is a surprise to You.  May my "yes" bring the fulfillment of everything  needed for the furthuring of Your kingdom on this earth.  In Jesus' precious Name, Amen.