Unlikely FighterSample

The Teen Mom

If you or I were doing the choosing, we wouldn’t have picked Mary to be Jesus’s mom. There were too many strikes against her—a poor, unknown, unmarried teenager from a backwater town with a bad reputation (John 1:46). And there was too much at stake—the child-to-be was supposed to literally save the world.

But God knew better. He looked past the externals, straight at her heart—a heart that loved and trusted God, a heart He “highly favored.” (Luke 1:28) That means a lot, coming from the Creator of the Universe!

The Scriptures give us glimpses inside Mary’s heart. When the angel Gabriel appears and tells her the plan for her to be the Messiah’s mother, she asks a clarifying question and then immediately expresses her willingness to go along with the plan, regardless of the personal cost. During her pregnancy, she praises God for His power and goodness. Then, as Jesus’s highly unusual birth story unfolds, she treasures and ponders all that’s happening. And after Jesus is born, she and Joseph are faithful to fulfill all that God’s law required of them.

The Lord chose Mary because He knew what kind of heart was needed to fight the battles that would come. Like facing the scorn and rejection stemming from her unwed pregnancy. Or giving birth in a stable, nearly 100 miles from her home. Or fleeing to a different country to escape an evil king, who wanted to murder her child. Or figuring out how to raise a kid who was literally God in the flesh. Or enduring the grief and confusion of watching as her son, the promised Messiah, was brutally beaten and crucified.

God chose Mary for something special. And He chose you too. Not to give birth to the Messiah, obviously, but to reflect His glory in your everyday life, to tell others the Good News of Jesus’s payment for their sins, and to do the good works He planned in advance that you should do, in your own sphere of influence—today and every day.

Reflect:

What can you do today to prepare your heart for the good works God is calling you to do?

What are some of those good works?