Verse for the Week

And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." ~ Luke 1:38a

[And Mary said] "For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."
~ Luke 1:48b-49

Mary is an example of the strange economy of attitude found in James 4:6, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." She humbled herself to a servant's place in the household of God and accepted the task appointed to her. Suppose she had shrugged off the Lord's command and closed her heart to the child she was to carry and said, "Not me. I'll not bear this child for you." She would not now be called blessed, we know that much. Perhaps she would be viewed in the same light as Judas, a betrayer of innocent blood. But instead she aligned her will with God's will. And soon she would say, "he who is mighty has done great things for me".

Better a maid in the house of the Lord, than a queen of any earthly kingdom.