In Luke 1, the angel twice tells Mary she is “highly favored.” Mary is highly favored because God chose to show her grace as the mother of the Messiah. Jewish girls had been praying for years that their child would be the long-awaited Messiah. As Pastor Aaron Buer tells us in the video clip below, Mary wasn’t special. She was too young. She was too poor. She was from the wrong town. Mary didn’t earn God’s favor. She was chosen by God’s grace.
Just like she didn’t earn being the mother of the Messiah, we can’t earn our way to being God’s children. It’s only by grace. As you reflect upon the Christmas season, consider the grace of God. Just like Mary received God’s grace by being the mother of Jesus, we too can receive God’s grace. Through the work of Jesus on the cross, we are invited into God’s family. All we have to do is accept the greatest gift ever offered.
As you spend time in the Chair today, ask yourself whether you have ever accepted the grace offered by God. If you haven’t, why not now? If you would like to accept God’s grace, God wants to hear from you. Consider telling him something like:
God I want to accept your free gift that I know I can’t earn and don’t deserve. I know nothing I can do would be enough. Thank you for dying on the cross to make a way to adopt me into your family.
If you accepted God’s offer today or would like to have a conversation about accepting his grace, contact us at btw@adabible.org.
