I want to invite you into an imaginative exercise with me. Pretend you are Mary. Guys I know this is a little harder for us to do but play along. You are Mary. You have just been given the task of carrying God within you. You have to nurture God as he grows inside you. You are mindful of what you do each day because you have such a precious gift growing within you. You are disciplined in tending to this gift that one day will arrive to be shared with the world. What kinds of things do you do to prepare?
God in the flesh, the one we call Jesus Christ, the gift of love born into the world, was received by Mary as a gift. Take a moment to read through Luke 1:26-56. How did Mary respond to this gift she was given? She responded with the beauty of submission in the realization of greatness, “I am the Lord’s servant.”
How would carrying God within you change how you see yourself?
How would carrying God within you change how you live your life?
How would carrying God within you change how you see the world?
I read Mary’s story differently here recently. She was given the gift of carrying God’s presence into the world to bring the redemption the world needed. I have often marveled at what that would have been like but then have failed to marvel at God’s presence being carried within me in the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17) or God’s presence being amongst us in the church as the community of believers (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). In our baptism, God placed his Spirit within each of us so that we would carry his presence into the world (Acts 2:38).
How would you see yourself differently if you truly believed God’s presence was within you?
How would your life be lived differently if you truly believed you were carrying the presence of God?
How would you view the congregation of believers differently, and our worship gatherings together, if you believed God was even more present with us during those times?
In so many ways, Mary’s story is the story of the church and of each believer. God has given us the gift of his real presence in our lives. How will you respond? Read back through Mary’s story in Luke 1:26-56 and see what Mary teaches you about carrying God for the blessing of the world.
Dwelling in the Word for this week is in 1 John 4:7-16.