Day 3: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

BLOG SERIES: The Birth of Jesus—Obedience leads to Blessings

Mary was highly-favored by God.

Because she found favor with Him, He chose her to play a vital role in His story of redemption. He chose Mary to carry and care for The Savior of the World.

I suspect He chose her because her heart was the closest thing to pure. God was the best judge of her heart because He made it. He saw it. He understood it. So, of all the women of the land, God chose Mary.

And when an angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her how she, a simple young girl from a tiny village, would be used as a vessel for the Holy of Holies, Mary humbly obliged. She obliged and graciously welcomed the plans of the Lord.

I imagine that as her belly grew and she began to feel the life growing within it, that Mary marveled at the miracle. I imagine that there were probably private moments when she wept, realizing the enormity of it all—that God had chosen her. I imagine that pure and utter joy must have radiated from her face. I imagine that a beautiful peace surely overwhelmed her. What it must have felt like to know she was absolutely walking in the path the Lord had made for her. How secure, how cared for she must have felt. Oh my, how blessed she was knowing that the Lord was fulfilling His prophecies of a promised Messiah that would save the world, and that He was doing it through her.

In the coming 11 days, we will see how the obedience of this chosen couple, paired with the obedience of others, blessed the generations to follow.