Lent: Mary, the mother of Jesus

Luke 1:26-38

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It takes great courage to raise any child, yet what a risk it was for Mary to agree to raise this particular Child! The angel Gabriel didn't tell her to hasten her marriage to Joseph, nor promise a steady income, nor suggest that she would not be disinherited from her family and home village. She endured a good number of trials before the Baby was even born, trials evident even to a 5yr old, who told me in December that "if I were Mary, I would stay home to birth Jesus, and not go with Joseph." Within a few weeks of His birth Mary is already being reassured by Simeon that because of her relationship to Him a sword will pierce her own heart. She took the risk of being divorced from her betrothed, rejected and stoned by everyone she knew, and faced the reality of giving birth in a stable far away from her family and friends, being later exiled from her homeland and living with the knowledge that many of the friends she had probably made during her time in Bethlehem had suffered the terrible massacre of their children because her Son was a threat to the throne of king Herod.
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What is the Lord asking you to risk today? Remember the risks Mary took out of her love for the Lord and her desire to do His will. Remember the Savior who was born of her womb and raised as her son. Whatever He asks of you and whatever it may cost you to obey Him, remember that He will always bring good out of your obedience to His will.