Choosing Christmas, Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen

December 17

Can you put yourself in Mary’s shoes as she lands on Elizabeth’s doorstep? This young girl is aware that life, as she had expected it to unfold, is over. Scholars suggest that it’s likely Mary hasn’t told anyone of her pregnancy at this point—not her parents, nor her peers, and not the man she planned to marry. By this time, yours truly here would be bursting to talk to another woman. How to broach the conversation, though, would’ve been consuming my every thought on the trip to Judea. I wonder if Mary had planned to back into the news a bit more slowly. Perhaps she had rehearsed how she would repeat out loud what sounded so audacious even in her own head,

“Cousin Elizabeth, I’m expecting a child, and it’s God’s.” No, that doesn’t sound right.

Maybe, “So, Liz, I’m going to be the Mother of God.”

And then. . .Elizabeth opens the door and there’s her protruding belly. If anyone will believe what Mary’s about to say, it will be the senior citizen rocking brand-new stretch marks.

15) I can almost feel Mary’s angst before Elizabeth opened the door— and her relief when she first saw Elizabeth’s tummy. God certainly communicates with us through His Spirit and the pages of His Word. And yet, in our twenty-first-century world, most anything goes—other than saying we’ve “heard from God.” It’s why our conversations with other believers yield fresh tinder for our fires. Journal about a time when you felt God was clearly speaking to you, and share it with a friend. If nothing comes to mind, compose a prayer asking for ears to hear Him and eyes to see Him. His very name is “Word of God.” He’s always speaking. We just need to listen.

Hugs,
Shellie