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. Luke 1:28-30, NIV
The angel soothed Mary as he makes his appearance, and proclaimed an announcement that would change her life. “You who are highly favored, you will give birth to a son and shall name Him Jesus.”
Mary had much to fear. Her life just took a major left turn, one which had not been on her map.
Meeting Jesus can be like that. Once we realize who He is, and why He came, we must determine what to do with Him. Do I accept Him and make Him Lord over my life? That will require a lot of hard work and sacrifice from me. Sacrifice I may not want to make.
What will people think? When you allow Christ to change you, people notice. Your old friends may notice and not approve. Mary had the same concerns, what would her people think?
And yet, she did not need to be afraid of Jesus. He was a gift from God. She had done nothing wrong, and God would take care of her. He started with reassuring her fiancé that he should marry her (and trust her), that although the child she carried was not his, it was God’s. When Joseph’s family had no room for these “wayward” family members, God provided shelter. He provided encouragement. He simply provided for all their needs.
In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, are you afraid? Are you afraid to come to Christ? Afraid of what you might find? Afraid of what others might say? Jesus came so that you and I might be saved from our sins. He came so that we could be reunited with God.
We may have done some terrible things in this life. Through Jesus, we can ask and receive forgiveness. We can come to God, thanking Him for His grace and for the gift of Christ. We do not need to be afraid to come to Him. Only when we leave our sins unrepented, and continue living for ourselves, we need to fear for our futures.
Jesus came as a baby. Maybe, so we would not be afraid. And just as the angel promised Mary, when you embrace Jesus, you will know great joy.
Reflections:
1) Am I afraid of Christ?
2) What am I going to do with Christ?
Dear God, Please help me to honestly come before You, and not to be paralyzed by a fear which prohibits me to come to You. Please forgive me for my sins, and help me to surrender to You. Thank You for loving me so much, You authored a way for me to return to You!. Amen.
Thank you for reading! As always, I love hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me, either by replying to this post, or, using my email in the “contact” section. Anything sent to me on email will not appear in this blog. If you have any questions about Christianity, or would like to explore faith further, please contact me. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and pray for you to draw closer to God today, and everyday.
Please return by Monday, December 29, for the next post.
I love reading these posts!!!!