Mary

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

It is just interesting at this time of year to consider Mary. First of all, Mary was a virgin. The Bible is very clear about this. In a day when so many laugh and mock at purity, Mary is a wonderful example of living the right kind of life. The fact that Mary was physically pure is the only first requirement for here being able to be the mother of Jesus. People who mock at purity are stupid. Physical purity is sanctioned and encouraged, really it is commanded, by God. God honors pure people (virgins). Second, Mary was favored of God. How would you like to be one of God's favorite people? Throughout the Bible people are mentioned who God favored above other people. These "favorites" of God were always the people who were doing right, and the people who would go the extra mile to serve God. Third, Mary was pure in her thoughts. She could not comprehend that God would favor her, and this showed an attitude of humility. Pride comes from an impure thought pattern which makes you the most important person, and makes you feel that you deserve something more in this life. Also, she could not fathom the fact that she would have a baby. She knew her body was pure, and therefore her mind could not comprehend that she could be with child. The angel had to explain that this was a miracle, and that God was the One who had placed the baby inside her. So often we live a "clean" life on the outside, but our thoughts are so full of wickedness and sin that we are really very dirty people. Fourthly, Mary was willing to do whatever it took to serve God. The discovery that she was with child could have been a death sentence for her, but she was willing to do what God said in spite of the risks. She had to endure the ridicule of ignorant people for the rest of her life because she carried the Lord. She was called a fornicator by the Pharisees, yet she was willing to bear reproach for the sake of the Lord. Finally, Mary saw the greatest miracle of the ages performed in her life, simply because she was qualified, due to the reasons above, to be the mother of Jesus. What kind of miracle would God work in our lives, if we only had the characteristics of Mary?