Behold, the bondslave of the Lord

 Luke 1:38 says, "And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."

What did she mean "according to your word?"  What had Gabriel told her?  Gabriel told her that she would become pregnant with the Holy Child.  While this is a great honor, think about what it really meant for her.  She would be pregnant.  Out of wedlock.  While engaged to a man who would know for sure that the child was not his.  In a culture where this sort of thing was punishable by death.  This doesn't even take into account that she would be raising the Son of God.  Not long after He is born, she is even told that a sword would pierce her soul because things would be so hard.  (Luke 2:34-35)

Mary only knew a small fraction of the difficulties she would face by being the Lord's mother, but she did know that it would be hard.  So what does she say?  Does she say, "That's a great honor, but, I'd rather not, thanks." ?  Does she argue?  Does she try to manipulate to change it a little?  No.  She says "Behold the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."  Essentially, she is saying, "Whatever you want, Lord, the answer is "Yes!"."  Mary is completely and totally submissive to the will of God.  

Are we that submissive?  Do we say, "Whatever you want, Lord."?  Or do we put conditions on it? "Whatever you want, Lord, as long as it is comfortable for me," or "whatever you want, Lord, as long as I know it will be safe and make me happy."  Submission can't be conditional.  Submission is total or it is not at all.  

Whatever you want, Lord.  Give me the courage to do whatever you want.  Behold, the bondslave of the Lord.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Suffering

     We are doing a study called Job: A Story of Unlikely Joy  by Lisa Harper (Lifeway Press 2018) in our Bible study at church.  Job is a book about suffering.  It tells us that the "health and wealth" gospel has been around for a long time and was just as much a lie then as it is now.  This week, we have been looking at "wound care" using Elihu's discourses from chapters 32-37.      I have been struggling with one main thing this week - what is suffering?  Job suffered the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health, not even to mention the loss of respect and friendship that seems to go along with those.  His were huge, obvious sufferings.  Lisa Harper mentions some huge, obvious traumas in her life as she discusses these sufferings.  But what if we haven't had the huge, obvious sufferings?  Personally, I think I have lived a pretty charmed life.  I was never abused in any way.  My parents love me and are still together after almost 48 years (if I a
Read more

Letting Go

     Sometimes, letting go is so hard.  As my children get older, they have to choose their own paths.  I don't always agree with their choices.  Some of their choices actually scare me.  But I can't make those choices for them and, as much as I hate it, they are just as human as I am.  I think of all the mistakes, some of them life altering, I made in my teens and twenties.  Yet, I am still here, loving Jesus with everything in me.  Even when I have slipped over and over, I don't fall.  "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate." (Psalm 116:5)  So I pray for my children and love them no matter what.  I pray that they will love Jesus more than anything and they will be able to get back on the right path when they stray.  I have to release them to the One who loves them even more than I do, and, as they get older, I have to release them more and more often.      Something to add:  This morning as I was talking to Jesus, I was deeply convi
Read more

Book Review - A History of the American People by Paul Johnson

  Book Review - A History of the American People by Paul Johnson I don’t really like using textbooks in our homeschool, especially for history.  A History of the American People by Paul Johnson is definitely not a textbook, but it does give a thorough history that will enrich an education.  This book was recommended in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise and was also recommended on this year’s G3 Reading Challenge, so I decided to check it out as a possibility for part of my high schooler’s American history credit.  I’m so glad I did.  Don’t get me wrong, reading it was daunting, it is almost 1000 pages, but it was worth the time.  Paul Johnson delivers a very readable and well written history of the United States and her people from the beginning of colonization up to 1997.  There were times when the perspective given was different from one I had heard in previous courses and readings, and this enriched my understanding.  I would recommend this as a gre
Read more