Joy To Your World - Children's Advent DevotionalSample

Mary was chosen by God to carry his Son because she was a person of great faith. She had been raised to follow God’s laws. When she was the right age, she was betrothed to a man who shared her love for God and His word.

A young Jewish woman would spend her year of betrothal learning how to be a good wife and mother. Mary and Joseph were already seen by their culture as a couple. They just weren’t married yet in God’s eyes.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). I wish we had a video of the next few moments! What did the angel look like? The Bible says that Mary was “troubled” and that she tried to understand “what sort of greeting this might be” (Luke 1:29). We know this moment was miraculous and out of the ordinary because the next thing Gabriel says to Mary is, “Don’t be afraid.” The angel wanted her to understand that she had been chosen by God to be part of an extraordinary miracle.

Gabriel told Mary, “You have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:30–31). Mary knew she had faithfully worshiped God and followed His laws. She would have understood that God could find favor with her and that might have made it easier for her to accept the angel’s amazing message.

Psalm 97:11 says, “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.” A righteous person means a person who has a right relationship with God. In the Bible, the word light often means understanding or direction. So, the Psalm is saying we can understand God’s word if we will be righteous people. The Psalm also says that righteous people will have joy.

Mary was startled and probably fearful during these first moments with the angel Gabriel. She had never experienced a miracle like this before. But Mary would not  have been chosen for this miracle if she had not been righteous. She would not have understood what the angel was telling her if she had not been right with God. And Mary might have missed the joy of being the mother of Jesus if she had chosen to live apart from God’s laws.

When we choose Jesus as our Savior, He comes to live inside of us through his Holy Spirit. Our faith in Jesus as Lord gives us favor with God and makes us righteous in His eyes. If Gabriel could speak to us today, he might tell us something like he told Mary. To every Christian the angel could say, “You bear God’s son. His name is Jesus.” That thought should give us great joy today.