Luke 1:39-42 — Be a Blessing
Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"
—Luke 1:39-42 NASB
How glorious of God, who is everlasting Spirit, to put Himself at risk—to make His hazardous journey into flesh. In doing so, He affirmed every person whom He touched. No idea is so essential to our hope as that which teaches that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
Consider Mary and Elizabeth. Both wonderful and fragile, they were the means by which God became a human being. They share a heavy secret. One was so old that she was well past childbearing age. Elizabeth’s old-age pregnancy must have been the brunt of community gossip. Then Mary came and affirmed Elizabeth in her commitment to God. No one but Mary could really understand and identify with Elizabeth because she, too, was the object of community ridicule back in Nazareth.
Each of these women had been asked to bear a heavy load, yet each helped the other with their respective assignments. Each had a special gift with which to help the other along. This gift helps in every situation. It is the gift of affirmation.
It is doubtless that Mary had struggled with her heavy assignment of bearing the Son of God. Yet she could tell her story to no one. She daily faced Isaiah’s words: “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). No one would believe she could have a child without a human father. And so she lived alone, glad to server God, but desperate for even one other person to believe her.
Then came Elizabeth’s greeting: “Blessed are you!” In the power of such a kind affirmation, Mary could live and thrive and serve God.
Are you an Elizabeth? Can you offer a kind word to those who carry a heavy burden? Can you affirm someone who is hurting? This may be the most Christlike ministry of all: to be able to say to the desperate, who are often isolated by their unbearable pain, “Blessed are you!”
Say this prayer:
Father, forgive me when I fail to be a blessing. Help me to be aware of those around me so that I may affirm, encourage and bless them. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
—Luke 1:39-42 NASB
How glorious of God, who is everlasting Spirit, to put Himself at risk—to make His hazardous journey into flesh. In doing so, He affirmed every person whom He touched. No idea is so essential to our hope as that which teaches that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
Consider Mary and Elizabeth. Both wonderful and fragile, they were the means by which God became a human being. They share a heavy secret. One was so old that she was well past childbearing age. Elizabeth’s old-age pregnancy must have been the brunt of community gossip. Then Mary came and affirmed Elizabeth in her commitment to God. No one but Mary could really understand and identify with Elizabeth because she, too, was the object of community ridicule back in Nazareth.
Each of these women had been asked to bear a heavy load, yet each helped the other with their respective assignments. Each had a special gift with which to help the other along. This gift helps in every situation. It is the gift of affirmation.
It is doubtless that Mary had struggled with her heavy assignment of bearing the Son of God. Yet she could tell her story to no one. She daily faced Isaiah’s words: “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). No one would believe she could have a child without a human father. And so she lived alone, glad to server God, but desperate for even one other person to believe her.
Then came Elizabeth’s greeting: “Blessed are you!” In the power of such a kind affirmation, Mary could live and thrive and serve God.
Are you an Elizabeth? Can you offer a kind word to those who carry a heavy burden? Can you affirm someone who is hurting? This may be the most Christlike ministry of all: to be able to say to the desperate, who are often isolated by their unbearable pain, “Blessed are you!”
Say this prayer:
Father, forgive me when I fail to be a blessing. Help me to be aware of those around me so that I may affirm, encourage and bless them. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
-
Comments
Post a Comment