Day 10

There is a lot to admire about Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the Book of Luke. When the angel Gabriel presented her the news that she, as a virgin, would conceive “the Son of the Most High,” her initial reaction was mixed shock mixed with fear. But in her final response to Gabriel, she said these humbling words in Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.”

Author Tim Keller in his book “Hidden Christmas,” explains the significance of her words here:

“In the older translations Mary says, "Be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38, King James Version). Those are extremely close to the words her son would someday say: "Not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39). She made this surrender before knowing what Jesus was going to do for her. We know that for every sacrifice Mary made for him, Jesus made infinitely more for her. Mary accepted that she was going down in the world-but think of how far the Son of God came down, from heaven to earth. In that brutal shame-and-honor culture, she knew that she was accepting God's will even at the risk of her life. But Jesus accepted God's will knowing it would cost him everything…But oh, look at the infinite, endless redemption that came out of his obedience-an eternal weight of glory for us all.”

Mary would go on to experience the unimaginable pain of losing a child. She watched His brutal death but would later find his empty grave and see His resurrected body! She knew pain and loss, but she also knew immeasurable joy. From the beginning of her story, she didn’t allow her present pains or circumstances to keep her from obeying. She, like Jesus, submitted her own will to the Father because, above all, she sought His will, not her own.

Action Step: Is there a circumstance in your life that you are allowing to hinder your obedience to God? Pray that God would help you “die to yourself” as you navigate His will for your life. Pray Jesus’s words, “not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39), over any hard situations in your life today.