Glory in the ordinary

Joseph and Mary were young and inexperienced when it came to marriage and home-making, yet they were chosen for the high calling of parenting from before they even new each other intimately. They were not parents to an ordinary child but to the Son of God. Talk about pressure! When we read Luke chapter 2 we see details of another day in their lives when they had to journey to another city to be registered as part of a nationwide census. They were forced to travel close to Mary’s due date and ended up having the child in Bethlehem in a stable meant for animals. It's fascinating that God intentionally ordered history in this way for His precious Son to be born in the most simple of settings.

Speaking of simple, Mary wrapped her newborn in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.There must have been the cacophony of animals, the stench of the stables and an exposure to nature's elements to some extent.

With the coming of television and social media in more recent times, we are under such pressure to live extraordinary, accomplished and successful lives. We want our faces to look perfect, have the best fitting outfits, host grand celebrations and plan grander getaways just to keep up with those around us. We assume that ordinary is boring. We think that the mundane is monotonous. We forget that it is our ordinary lives that most require the intervention of Jesus. We discount the joy that is found in the mundane.

Romans 12 verse 1 in the MSG version says “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

You can live your ordinary life with the greatest purpose when you have surrendered it all to Jesus. In doing this, you bring infinite glory to Him.

Declaration Jesus- my life is Yours. Every part of it. I know You will bring the best out of it.