Something About Mary — A LifeWords Devotion

Poor Mary! One lot of Christians make a lot of fuss over her and just to show how different they are, other Christians virtually ignore her. Her name suggests religious feelings and even prejudices that have coloured her reputation through the years. Yet she comes across here and elsewhere as utterly admirable. Someone to imitate if not worship.

She would have been in her mid teens when she got the news she would give birth to a child even though she was a virgin. That is news enough for anyone. But considering the news came from an angel, this piece of news was even more significant. And the icing on the cake was that the child she would bear is the promised Messiah. No normal baby, but God incarnate.

We might wonder how Mary felt when told she was favoured. Giving birth as a virgin to the Son of God is undoubtedly an honour, but we suspect it is an honour that would not have her doing cartwheels of delight. Still, her reaction is one of supreme calm. She is God’s servant and will accept what comes. And all this from a very young woman.

Such was the means by which God made his entrance into human society. Not the normal sort of mother or the normal sort of birth. Then again, this was no normal child, no normal event. This was a birth which would generate much new birth. This new life growing in Mary’s womb was to bring new and everlasting life to many. And Mary was the human vessel by which salvation came to all. No wonder she is called blessed.

Blessings,

David