Several Bible verses are taped to one of our kitchen cabinets. They are daily reminders of important truths in God’s Word. A favorite is John 12:24. Jesus spoke of His coming death, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
This week, John 12:24 makes me think of the Christmas story told in Luke chapters 1 and 2.
Technically, Mary died that day – the day Gabriel showed up in Nazareth. Every hope, every dream she had for the future was laid down as she fully surrendered to God’s will. She was a grain of wheat that most certainly fell to the ground.
In “The 25 Days of Christmas,” James Merritt wrote: “God didn’t choose Mary because she was smart or sinless or talented, and those aren’t the reasons He chooses us. Rather, He uses ordinary people who believe His promise and act as if they are true, following His will even when it seems unpleasant, difficult, or even dangerous.”
Speaking of unpleasant, difficult or even dangerous. It would have been a lot more convenient if Gabe had stuck around when Mary told her mom and dad, or especially Joseph the news. How do you adequately describe a visit by an angel? Still, she believed and pressed on. With whom could she share her thoughts, amazement and fears? She had no other witness or validation until the wonderful day she arrived at Elizabeth’s house. At Elizabeth’s confirmation, Mary was so overjoyed she sang a song.
Mary was young but knew the risks of being found pregnant before marriage. It wouldn’t just be awkward. Joseph could have her stoned to death.
The song “Mary Did You Know?” is one we often hear at Christmastime. (The Pentatonix version is my favorite.) Truth be told, Mary did NOT know all that her Baby Boy would do. She didn’t know all the lives He would touch and change forever.
What she DID know was that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…the God Who had brought her ancestors out of Egypt…the God her so many greats-grandfather, David, had trusted as he faced Goliath…was real and that He had called her for an important task.
Mary didn’t know anything about her future. But she knew the most important thing: she knew the God Who held it all in His Hands.
That day in Nazareth, Mary’s grain of wheat fell to the ground and died. And oh, what fruit she bore.
The older I get, the more I ponder the magnitude of Mary’s choice to say “yes” to the Lord. If her answer had been “no,” God would have used someone else. I want to have the faith of that teenage girl in Nazareth. I don’t want to miss God’s perfect plan even when it’s unexpected or scary. Do you?