Luke 1:36 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.
Most of my readers are familiar with the first couple of chapters of the Gospel According to Luke in relation to Christmas. As I was re-reading these chapters for upcoming messages this Christmas season, something new stood out to me this time. Now, we all realize there is nothing new in Bible; but as we like to say when we buy a used car, "It may not be new, but its new to me!"
Something that I never considered before was the timing of what Gabriel tells Mary about her cousin Elisabeth. I began to imagine what was going through Elisabeth's mind the past six months, and what is now going through Mary's mind as she contemplates all that Gabriel tells her. It must be reassuring for each of them to know that they are not the only one in this boat of impossibility.
I began to think how sometimes when we see God bless us and do something impossible in not only us, but others around us, our attitude begins to change. If we are not the only one who God is blessing at this time, then we silently get upset. This reveals the true nature of our heart - we are selfish and prideful. Our desire should be to have God bless us in a way that will give Him, and not us, the glory - and that His blessings of making possible the impossible will be poured out on others.
Our prayer should be that God will multiply the impossible in our life and the lives of those around us this Christmas season.
No matter how often a passage is read, when God has a new message for us, it opens our eyes all over again.
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