As we are all preparing to celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, I wanted to spend a little time looking at a few elements of the Christmas story. Today, I want to think about a young teenage girl probably between 13 and 15 years old. (This story kind of hits home for me because my daughter is 14.)
As we examine this girl I am amazed by the depth of her faith. At a time in her life when everything was going well she embraced God's unexpected plan for her life. This all started one day when she was visited by an unexpected visitor.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. ~Luke 1:26-38
At the moment when Gabriel showed up, Mary's life was changed forever. By agreeing to God's plan for her life she risked it all. Her family would disown her. In the worst case, her fiance could have her put to death; at best case, she would be shunned by her community as a loose woman. Knowing this, this young girl agreed to accept God's plan.
Take some time this Christmas season to remember the faithfulness of a teenage girl who risked it all to bring us a savior. This took place to fulfill what was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." ~Isaiah 7:14
Because this young woman embraced the unexpected plan of God, we can experience the Immanuel, the God with us. Jesus came into this world to be the sacrificial lamb of God.
During this Christmas will you accept God's plan for your life by accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? Make this Christmas the most important of your life by embracing the greatest gift of all, the sacrifice of the Christ.
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