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The Innocent Faith

    We are told that Mary may have been as young as fourteen when she became engaged to Joseph…fourteen!  How young…how innocent, and yet we know Mary was chosen by God for a reason to the mother of our Lord.

    One can only imagine what Mary thought as the angel explained she would give birth to a child.  This wasn’t America in the twenty-first century.  The Jewish engagement period was much more binding that our marriages could ever hope to be.  For a young lady to become pregnant was punishable by death, and because Joseph must have greatly loved Mary, he decided to divorce her secretly, even though they were only engaged. 

    Even more unbelievable was that Mary was a virgin, so certainly she asked the angel, “How can this be?”  This was the same question Zacharius the priest had asked about the birth of his son, John.  We know the result of that question…Zacharius could not talk until the child was born. 

    But Mary was not a priest…she was a young girl, and the angel explained to her that “with God, all things are possible.”   And what was the response of this young lady to this plan God had for her? “Behold the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word.”

    I am blessed by the innocent faith of Mary.  I am blessed by her response.  How wonderful it would be if all of us could simply trust God…be His servant…and live according to His word.  We make things so very complicated.  We even let this season of the year get complicated…stressful…busy.  We forget it’s all about a manger, a stable, a young mother whose loves God with all her heart…who is His servant. 

    In the midst of our complexity and confusion, may we remember how Jesus placed a small child before Him and said, “Whoever becomes like this child shall enter the kingdom of heaven.”

    An innocent faith…a simple time of the year.  May our response be as Mary’s: “Behold your servant, Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word.”

In Christ,
Billy

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