For so many, this week is the beginning of the Christmas season. It is the start of Advent: the arrival and coming of Jesus. As we get ready to celebrate, we want to look back on the birth of Jesus and the journey that took place during that first Christmas, when the world received the greatest gift of all - Jesus.
When we reflect on how Mary, the mother of Jesus, journeyed to Bethlehem, the natural response would be to say, by donkey. This is how it is portrayed in paintings or movies, but we don’t know that to be true. The Bible does not make that clear.
However she traveled physically, her journey to Bethlehem actually began when the angel Gabriel came to her with a message (Luke 1: 26-38). Mary was young and soon to be married. Gabriel told her that she was going to be “with child” by the supernatural activity of God, and the child she would deliver would be the Son of God.
Mary did not understand this, but her response showed something significant: her surrender to God’s will. She responded that she was the “servant of the Lord, and whatever the Lord wanted, she would do.” Mary’s heart was surrendered to the will of God. Her submission to God was truly the vehicle that led her to Bethlehem, which allowed her to experience the birth of the Savior to us all.
A surrendered heart is always necessary to encounter all that Jesus has to offer us. Even when our journey is not easy or understandable, it can be the journey that changes our lives forever.
Dare to Ask God to help you surrender your all as you journey towards knowing Jesus more this Christmas.
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God’s passion for His people can not be extinguished. Do you embody this same passion?