Don't Put Jesus Away

In Mary’s song, she begins by acknowledging who God is. Often, when we pray or even when we sing worship songs, we start by acknowledging who we are and how we feel. It’s easy to ask God for things and bring our feelings to him, and then forget to focus on who he is. Mary teaches us that prayer begins by praising God and rejoicing in who he is. Mary acknowledges her humble state before God, but then continues on to share about who God is and what he has done. How often do we sing songs, pray prayers, or talk to our community about who God is and what he has done? We get so focused on ourselves and how God relates to us specifically that we forget to worship him and praise his works. It’s easy to forget who he is, but if we spend time consistently reminding ourselves of who he is, we will be in the habit of praising him even in the midst of suffering.  We can assume that Mary’s pregnancy wasn’t a blissful experience. She went on to be publicly shamed and outcasted, most likely by some of her own family and friends. But since Mary turned her focus immediately to praise God for who he is, what he was doing, and what he has already done, her focus was in the right place to face even the worst kind of opposition. What the church would look like if we started each day with the same posture toward God? Reflection/Discussion Question: Reflect on who God is and what he has done: Who is God and what has he done in your midst?

God always has an eternal perspective, but this is something we will spend our entire lives learning. When we are surrounded by worldly values, it’s easy to get caught up in them while convincing ourselves that our values are correct. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with pursuing a higher degree, buying a nicer car, living in a large house, going on fancy vacations, going after that promotion, or buying nice presents for your kids, it becomes a fine line between worldly and godly values.  We value earthly stability and status. We value what we can post on social media, share at family gatherings, and see in our bank accounts. But when we pursue the eternally valuable, we may lose everything that we thought gave us stability and status. If God favors the humble and the bent knee, then we should forgo status in submission to Christ. We will tear down our values that were built on sand in order to stand on the solid rock of Christ. We will open our hands in surrender to God, knowing that everything he has given us is to be used to grow his eternal Kingdom. We will claim nothing of our own and offer ourselves in submission to his will for our lives. When we humble ourselves before God, we will hold worldly values loosely, knowing that they hold no value in heaven. Instead, we will see them as tools to be used to accomplish God’s plan. That larger house can accommodate more strangers to love. That raise can be used to tithe to the church. That new job can be used to love people. When we humble ourselves before God, everything in our lives can be used for his Kingdom and purposes. Reflection/Discussion Question: What in your life has been difficult to see in an eternal perspective?

God choose to bring Jesus into the world through Mary because he highly favored her. There was nothing special about her from the world’s perspective. In fact, Mary was someone who was overlooked and insignificant, but God loves to use the overlooked and insignificant to accomplish his plans.  God favors those who are humble and obedient. He favors those who aren’t trying to make their own name great, but make the name of Jesus great. He favors those who will display his work without trying to take the recognition for themselves. Mary embodies what Jesus says in John 3:30: “‘He must become greater; I must become less’” (NIV). As followers of Jesus, our lives should echo this verse. In everything we do, people should see more of Jesus and less of us. More love, less selfishness. More humility, less pride. More joy, less despair. More faithfulness, less apathy. More peace, less division. The more we step aside and allow Jesus to shine through us, the more people will see Jesus for who he truly is. This is how we grow the kingdom of God. God isn’t looking to use people who are prideful, arrogant, boastful, and praised by the rest of the world. God does his best work when he works in and through his most humble servants. The world may overlook them, but God sees them for who they really are. Reflection/Discussion Question: What does it look like to live out John 3:30?

We often miss God because we can’t take our eyes off of ourselves. When we read the Bible, we can get concerned with making everything about ourselves that we don’t really get to know God. Instead of letting the chapters and verses teach us about the character of God, we ask, “What is this saying about me and my life?” We get so fixated on God’s plan for our own lives that we miss his activity. God has become a tool to help us get to know ourselves, but what we will find is that we cannot know ourselves without first knowing God. We cannot get to know what God is doing in our lives without understanding that his plan doesn’t revolve around us. We crave recognition, but we were made to worship God. Once we remove ourselves from the spotlight and give God his rightful praise, we will start to see more clearly. Not only will we get to know God for who he is, rather than what he can do for us, we will also start to see ourselves more clearly. We will see that we are deeply loved by God in a way we can never earn and don’t deserve. We will see that we’ve been given the grace to be used by God in his glorious plan to reconcile all people to himself. We will see that we are insignificant, but God gives us significance. Reflection/Discussion Question: How have you been placing yourself at the center of God’s plan, instead of God?