SolLuna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

12/19

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord …” – Luke 1:46

The Magnificat remains one of the most glorious expressions of praise in all of musical literature. Perhaps, someday, in Heaven, God will allow us to hear a replay of the day Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth or the day the angel visited Mary and announced God’s intentions to her. We would hear that conversation that altered history and sweet sound of her acceptance of God’s great gift of His Son to and through her. The music of absolute surrender would call us to worship and we would join her in exclaiming,

“My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior!”

No less significant was the day your heart responded to God’s grace and declared, “be it unto me according to thy word.”

That God would regard the low estate of His handmaiden and plant the seed of redemption within her womb is a magnificent thing indeed. That God would regard our low estates that Christ might be conceived and born in our hearts by faith is astounding!

We cannot help but sing His praise. We cannot resist the call the worship. We cannot feign to exalt His Name and rejoice in the miracle of His coming. As Mary conceived without human agency, so, that which is born in us of God is without human effort.

Welcome Him to your life anew today and join in chorus:

Prophets foretold Him,
Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him
On the throne;
Worthy our Savior
Of all our praises;
Happy forever are His own.
(Mary Macdonald, 1888)

Rejoice!

Daily Reading Bonus

THE COLOR OF LOVE

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever beleiveth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

It is the first verse we learned as children and the one that remains dearest to our hearts. It is the gospel in a verse. It is so familiar that it is tempting to treat it as trite. 

It is a glimpse into the very heart of God and it deeply informs our understanding of His purposes and ways.

We were taught to insert our names in place of “the world.” This morning, I would encourage you to insert your neighbors’ names.

Any Christian world view must acknowledge how God sees lost humanity.  They are the objects of His relentless and unfailing love.  The extent to which He will go to redeem is shown in the life and death of Jesus.  If you and I have been invited to join Him in His work and vision, it must include such love of the lost.  We cannot pass it off as theoretical or poetic.  God’s love is gutsy, giving, and gregarious.  His call is to share His love with the open invitation to all to receive and believe.  Visualize an individual, family, or neighborhood where lost people live.  See the faces and view them through the eyes of Jesus.  Imagine their lives changed by His liberating love and grace.  Ask God what part you and your church play in actively and sacrificially loving them.

If we say that we desire the very heart of God to beat within us, we must love the lost. If we would be holy and consecrated people, we must filter our judgments and choices through that love. If we have any hope of becoming Christ-like, it will be as this love flows through us.