A Thrill of Hope - Week 1: Day 5

Does Humility Matter?
 
As Luke writes this his account, he zeroes in on two young ladies. Elizabeth and Mary. There is something about these two that attracts us, but we often don’t look very far. We settle on the fact that one is the mother of John the Baptist and the other is the mother of Jesus. Both of these notably are humble in nature. In fact, in Luke 1:48 the bible speaks of the humble nature of Mary and in Luke 1:43 Elizabeth asks why the mother of our Lord would come to her. Luke makes it a point to let us be aware that both of these ladies, whom the Lord chose, and the Lord was using in a mighty way, are humble.

Mary makes a significant contribution to Scripture in several places. Here in the beginning of Luke, she sings a song that has been titled Mary’s Magnificat.  It is an overwhelmingly joyful praise to her magnificent God that she adores. Of course, at the time she wrote or sang this song she knew something that no one else really knew… that the life of the baby in her was going to change the world! How could she have known this? Not only did the angels tell her, but her pregnancy backed it up along with Joseph’s understanding. There is something to be learned here. The truths of Scripture will always be endorsed by the facts of life.

How is what you know of Scripture supported by the facts of your life? Let me explain. If we believe that the gospel is not only a message of life but a life-changing message, how has your endorsement of the gospel changed your life? The truth is, if you have endorsed the gospel (or placed your faith in Jesus Christ) repented of your sins, and surrendered to Him, then your life has changed. In other words, Jesus makes an unexplainable difference in your nature. You may not understand it all, you may not be able to explain it all, but you cannot deny it at all.

Mary appears in other places of scripture as well. In the beginning of Acts, she has the high privilege of being in the Upper Room with the disciples. A Room of prayer and private conference.  We also see her at the cross. Not only does she participate in the Lord’s birth, she witnesses the Lord’s death. And we see her in between from time to time participating in the Lord’s life, like at the wedding of Cana. And even with all that knowledge, relationship, and participation in His life…Mary remains humble.
 
This Advent season I would like to invite you to make yourself available by following Mary’s example. What are ways that you can humble yourself so that the Lord can use you, bless you, and bless others even more than He may be using you now? It is only when we humble ourselves that we truly make ourselves available for Him to do with us as He will. At times, we are all guilty of assuming God’s role in our lives in terms of what, when and how we do things, but what if we could be like Mary and accept what may seem to be impossible to us (like the virgin birth) as possibilities for Him to work in and through us.

Did you know that an 8 oz. glass will usually hold about 9oz. before it overflows? When it overflows, it is a mess. Just like the glass, we too only have a limited capacity. When we get too full with too many things that we chose, there ends up being little room for Him and our life becomes a big mess. But if we will humble ourselves and let some things go, we can make ample room for Him! The truth is, we cannot bless ourselves more than God can bless us…maybe we should stop trying.

Take a few minutes today and think of ways that you may be able to decrease this Christmas season, in order for Him to increase (John 3:30).