ENJOY THE TRUTH

As we closed out in song this past Sunday with Jesus Oh What A Wonderful Child, one set of lyrics stood out above the others.  New Life, New Hope, New Joy He Brings couldn’t have been stated more truthfully.  While there must have been trepidation within Mary as Gabriel, God’s messenger angel to her, gave her the good news, once she internalized the message, knowing it was from God the Father, she had to be elated to have been chosen to carry the Son of God within her.  We see her obedience to God’s calling in Luke 1: 38 (ESV) where she says to Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  We see her joy later in the same chapter within her song of praise in verses 46-49 (ESV) “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

While we as Christ-followers can’t know what all went through Mary’s mind after hearing the good news, we do know the new life, the new hope and the new joy of having God, the Holy Spirit, live within us.  Foundationally as Christ-followers, each of us needs to have some simple tenets by which our lives are directed.  In the opinion of yours truly, two of the best are: (1) Have a childlike faith and (2) be filled with the Spirit.  In focusing on the latter tenet, if we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, is this a request that God will fulfill?  1 John 5:13-14 (ESV) implies a positive answer: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  

Merry Christmas and enjoy the truths.