FOR UNTO US IS BORN

I've heard the words before, but today they stick, they move something within me that needs a good
push. Gabriel has just given Mary the news that she has been chosen by her Father to be the vessel who will usher Jesus into the world, into her world. His words must have been inconceivable and His promise too big to wrap her mind around, yet something came to life inside of her and these are the words that came from her lips: "Let it be to me according to Your word." That's it! No debate, no wrestling, but simply an understanding that the promise had very little to do with her and everything to do with the One who spoke it. In order to pull this thing off, God and God alone would have to fulfill His word to her. Her part was to simply believe the unbelievable and wait on the Father to do it through her. Through simply yielding her life to the work of the Father, others would be able to personally come to know Jesus.

I remember being so protective when I carried my three little ones in my womb. I can't imagine how careful Mary must have been, knowing she was caring the Devine within her earthly tent. With every move she must have been aware of His presence within her. Her conversation, her choices and even her thought life must have seem magnified with her awareness of His nearness.

I realize that little has changed. The Father has chosen to use me as a vessel to bring Him to my world as well. While it is true that I will not literally carry His very real flesh within my womb, I cannot help but see the privilege I have been given to host His very real Spirit within my very being. Today I am reminded that what the Father has asked me to do is not that different than what He asked of Mary. Like Mary, I am given the opportunity to partner with the Father in bringing life to others, by bringing forth Jesus through my own.  Like Mary, I must put my trust not in myself, but in the One who can fulfill His own request through my yielded heart. My response must simply be, "Let it be to me according to Your word."  May I live with the understanding that my conversations, my choices and even my thought life are lived out in His presence. May I carry Him into my world with the same conviction that Mary had, knowing that I have been given life's greatest gift of carrying the Devine within my earthly tent. May my life be a birthplace, to usher Jesus into the world... into my world.