5.1.25 Luke 1:26-33

Prepare

O God, would you move. I give my heart and life to you.
Take a moment to be still.

Read Luke 1:26-33

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Reflect

Mary’s reaction is quite natural. She is troubled at the idea that God might just love her! In my experience, we all struggle to truly appreciate just how much God loves us. I think this is often born out of 2 common mistakes. Firstly, we can under-appreciate our own value. Yes, there is nothing in us that deserves God’s love, but that doesn’t mean we are worthless – in fact he deemed us worth dying for. Secondly, we can under-appreciate the depth of sin. When our picture of sin is terrible, our picture of grace is amazing! When our picture of sin is moderate, our picture of grace is moderate. This tension is a difficult thing to hold – hence why we all find it so hard and have to continually remind ourselves of the vastness of God’s love for us.

Be

Lord, you love us because you love us, because you love us. Help us to grow in the reality of your love.

Become

Holy Spirit, we pray that you would work a miracle in us that we would see ourselves as you see us. Help us to go on the adventure with you.

Do

Who do you know that needs to know God’s love? Let’s pray for 3 people now who are known to us.

Practice

Let’s find a moment today to confess our sin again to God. When you do so, remind yourself of the value and worth God deemed you to have when he died for you that you might be saved from sin in His love.