Mon.’s Devo - Mary’s Visitation

Read Luke: 1:21-34 The people were outside the Temple waiting for the priest to come out and give the final benediction so they could go home with their sins atoned for for another year. When he didn’t come in the accepted time they began to wonder what kept him. Then, when he did finally emerge he was speechless. He used sign language to try to explain to the people what he saw. They realized he had had an experience and seen a vision from God. How frustrating not to be able to tell it or hear it. After his tour of duty in the Temple he went home, and his wife, Elisabeth became pregnant and kept it to herself for 5 months. It was their custom to not show they were pregnant. We have come a long way from that. It seems stylish now to wear shirts so your belly button shows as if going from an inny to an outy is a rite of passage. Back to Elisabeth… she is finally getting her hearts desire and having her curse of barrenhood lifted. In her sixth month the angel Gabriel makes another visit to earth, but this time to Mary, who was a teen-age girl engaged to Joseph. It is very likely they didn’t even know each other since marriages were arranged between parents. Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she is highly favored which means she has been chosen for a great honor. Before she could process this, he went on to tell her she would conceive a son whose name will be Jesus, and he will be great and be called the Son of the Highest. God will give him the throne of David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will last forever. I want to stop here and think about this. I can’t imagine what she thought about this then and especially later when he was beaten mercilessly and nailed to a cross. Did she think back to what the angel said, and think something had gone wrong? It is truly one of those things you file in the folder labeled: “God’s ways are higher”. Lord, when our plans don’t turn out as we thought they would remind us of today’s passage. Your ways truly are higher than ours and your will is what we want, even if it doesn’t look “right” to us. Tomorrow we celebrate this very birth and tell you that we are so thankful for your son, our Saviour, Jesus. I pray that all my readers have a very blessed Christmas with their friends and family. I love you!