I love Calvin
Miller’s title for today’s Advent Devotion from his book, "The Christ of Christmas."
The Tune of the Unknown.
Years ago Renee and I visited Arlington
National Cemetery
in Virgina and stood at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was powerful
display of discipline, patriotism, and gratitude. The message to us was that
there will be no man or women who has served our country forgotten.
Luke 1:51-53
(NKJV) 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
The high
and mighty rarely seek God’s help, so most of
His work
is done by those with less reputation.
It doesn’t
appear in Scripture that Mary saw herself as an almighty saint, but as a person
of lowly status. God was the Great One. Only
He was mighty, exalting those of low degree.
Most of the great bible heroes would have been surprised to look down
from heaven and see how venerated they became.
Perhaps no one was more surprised than Mary. How she must have trembled at the Almighty’s
request of her.
God’s will for
her was not only hard to bear, but also impossible to explain. Here’s what I love about Mary. She didn’t wait until God’s plan was complete
before she rejoiced. She sang her
Magnificat form the very first moments she yielded her life to God.
You will find that
you may not complete all that God has for you to do in order to find your own
joy. Joy begins with the moment you begin
to yield your life. It is the “yes”
moment, the moment you throw your reluctance overboard. You will feel praise
welling up inside you.
Lord, today may
you use the yielded. Help me to yield to
your will. Help me to never think that I
am somehow deserving of You. Help me to
realize that I cannot do anything major with minor trust. Help me to say yes to you, so that my song
can be, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”
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