Holy Night and Little Star: A 5-Day Reading PlanSample

Day 5

“’Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!’” — Luke 1:45

Mary’s relative Elizabeth tells her that she’s blessed because she said “yes” to God. But does this mean life will be easy for her? Not at all! Mary was forced to travel to a faraway town with Joseph just before baby Jesus was born.

In Bethlehem, the only place to have the baby was in a cave where animals sleep. It was messy and smelly inside, and messy and dangerous outside, because King Herod was already plotting ways to get rid of Jesus. But through it all, Mary believed in God’s plan for this Marvelous Child—His Son—who came into a world of mess and smell and danger to make everything beautiful and fresh and safe one day.

Discussion

Does saying “yes” to the invitations of God make life easier or harder? Can you remember a time when obeying God made things more complicated but you were glad you said “yes”?

Prayer

Dear God, like Mary, we trust You. We know You want us to have a joyful life full of wonder and goodness. Help us to say “yes” to Your invitations. Thank You that we are blessed, too, like Mary, because we believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world.