Day 11: Read Luke 1:39-45
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Luke 1:39-45 reveals an encounter Mary had with her relative Elizabeth after Mary found out she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Mary, having learned her relative Elizabeth was pregnant although she was very old, rushes to a town in the hills of Judea. Mary greets Elizabeth and at the sound of Mary's voice Elizabeth's unborn child jumps within her. Elizabeth is then filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaims, "God has blessed you more than any other woman, and he has blessed the baby to which you will give birth. Why has this good thing happened to me, that the mother of my Lord come to me? When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. You are blessed because you believed that what the Lord said to you would really happen."
This short passage tells us a lot about Mary and the experience she is going to have. Mary, upon hearing her relative's good news, goes to her relative to celebrate with her. She could have stayed in Nazareth and reveled in her own good news, after all God was going to bless her with her own baby, but instead she chooses to share in her relative's blessing. Mary doesn't tell Elizabeth what the Lord said would happen to her, but instead celebrates her relative. This action shows her humbleness and willingness to let someone else shine brighter. The Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth and it is then that Mary's news is revealed to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's revelation reveals that Mary is going to give birth to the Lord. Previously it was understood that the baby would be a part of God, His son, but this confirms that He will in fact be God. Elizabeth states that Mary is blessed because she believed the Lord when He spoke to her His will for her life.
From Mary's story we are able to learn three things. First, humbleness is a character trait that God desires. We are human beings, which means that each of us is different in our areas of strengths and weaknesses. This means that no one can really be a better human being, in other words having a reason to hold themselves above others, because no one is perfectly strong in every area of life. Mary had a reason that we just don't have, she was carrying God's son, but she didn't allow that reason to change who she was, a human being. We are not responsible for our success, God is, and for that reason we should be humble about ourselves. Second, Mary heard good news about a relative and went to that relative to celebrate with her. Scripture says that we should rejoice with those who rejoice and be sorrowful with those who are sorrowful. Instead of focusing on herself, Mary chose to think of her relative and express her congratulations in person. Third, the Lord blesses us when we believe what He has said. Mary believed the Lord when He said she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and as a result He blessed her. The news Mary was given was not something that was easy to believe and yet she trusted in the Lord to such a degree that she believed something that was unbelievable.
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