The Right ResponseSample

Mary obeyed

In our first look at Mary and her preparation for the coming of Christ, we saw that she believed God. Now we look at the second step in her preparation: she obeyed.

When Mary asked Gabriel how this could happen, she was asking for a biology lesson. She wanted to know how she was going to conceive, since she was a virgin. The angel gives her the incredible answer that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and to this explanation, she states, “Let it be to me according to your word.” In other words, she said “I believe, and I say yes.” 

This incident reminds us of a similar incident with Sarah, the wife of Abraham. In the Genesis account, Sarah was 90 years old when she overheard the Lord tell Abraham that He would give them a son. Because of her advancing age, she laughed at the seemingly impossible promise of having a son. The Lord replied, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” For Sarah, it was an impossibility because her view of God was too small. For Mary, it was a possibility because her view of God was so grand.

C. S. Lewis, in his book, A Grief Observed, says, “Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief.” Mary takes a great risk here because she was in the third month of a year-long betrothal period with Joseph. Her pregnancy would be a scandal that could result in her being stoned to death. This was truly a life and death situation that would also humiliate her husband-to-be as well as her entire family. Yet, when the angel asks, she responds without hesitation, “Yes, I will do it.” 

First Mary believed and then she obeyed. What is the Lord asking you to do this Christmas? Is He asking you to believe and obey? Is your view of God big enough to say yes when He asks you to greet a neighbor, forgive a wrong, love an unlovable family member, or share the love of Christ with another this Christmas? Can you say yes, as Mary did, when God asks you to step out in faith? Is your God big enough to believe and obey?