“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
– Luke 1:38
The Christian life is a life of faith. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 (the faith
chapter as it’s called) that they “looked
for a city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God.” This is in contrast to the worldly life which
is a life of sight. The Christian who is
a Christian is striving, believing, and hoping for that which is unseen;
opposite to the man who is not a Christian.
A man without faith in God is striving, believing, and hoping for that
which is temporal. It is accept that we
are born into this world a natural man with a mind and propensity towards
things that are temporal and carnal; therefore it stands to reason that if you
are going to walk by faith then you must first experience some sort of
transformation; a change, a conversion.
This is accomplished through faith; through faith you can be born again
into a life of faith.
The Bible doesn’t tell us a whole lot about Mary and Joseph
before Jesus came on the scene. We know
their lineage, we know they were engaged, we know some of their immediate
family, and we also know that they were righteous (really that tells you all
you need to know). The angel told Mary, “thou hast found favor with God.” One can readily assume that with a testimony
like that, Mary was a women of faith, and a good thing to, because she was
being called upon to perform a monumental task.
In these few short verses found in the first chapter of the book of
Luke, this humble and amazing women teaches us a valuable lesson about the life
of faith. It is very easy to believe and
have faith when everything is as it should be.
We all have our little plans laid out in front of us, I did, I was going
to graduate high school, go to college, etc.
If the wind is clam and the boat is headed due north following the point
of the compass; what great need is there for faith? I imagine (but cannot confirm) that Mary and
Joseph had their plans as well. They
were to be married, and have a little house, Joseph would likely take up his
occupation and life would continue as planned.
Perhaps two kids, a comfortable home, nice neighbors, etc. Then one day, an angel appears, and their
world is turned upside down. I ask you
as I ask myself, where is your faith when your world is turned upside
down? Not where is it, that is to say do
you have it or not, but where is it?
What are you trusting in? Do you
trust in yourself? Your sight? Your bank account?.......Or God. Where is your faith? The life of faith is proven through times of
faith and in times of faith where we place our faith can determine
everything. It is the difference in
Abraham and Lot, Saul and David, Josiah and Manasseh, Saul and Paul. Faith, and the life of faith glorifies God
and that is a beautiful thing.
Mary’s faith was a beautiful faith. When the angel came and turned her world
upside down, she didn’t have to take a walk and mole it over. There wasn’t a long line of questioning to
the angel as if they were in the court room.
She simply said “be it unto me
according to thy word.” Beautiful
faith, give me that kind of faith. The
kind that when the whole world is falling to pieces and all my life’s ambitions
are turned tossed out the window I can say God “be it unto me according to thy
word”; come sorrow or pain, loss or gain.
This is faith, and a life of faith.
