“Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)
There are a lot of things we want to call “blessed.” Sometimes we almost use that word as a lucky charm: “I was blessed by…” or “Isn’t a blessing that….”
As Jesus is speaking, someone interrupts Him to say His mother is blessed. Jesus didn’t disagree, but He went back to why Mary was blessed—she heard God speak and she obeyed Him.
All the blessings I could ever need are listed in God’s Word. All I have to do to receive those blessings is obey.
As Jesus goes on, He makes clear that reading and obeying what the Word says will ensure “that the light within you is not darkness” (v. 35). This, then, will make me a better witness for Christ, as the result of this inner light appears outside too: “as when the light of a lamp shines on you” (v. 36).
Does this “lamp that shines on you” look like a halo? Perhaps. But a life that shines with the blessings of God—which come from obedience to His Word—is unmistakable and irresistible! That sounds like a halo to me!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Today some call her “the holy mother” and revere her as a saint. But 2000 years ago, Mary saw herself as only an ordinary, faceless, fame-less, Israelite girl.
She came from Nazareth (a town of which people said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?!”)
Nazareth was in the region of Galilee (an area of which people said, “No one special has ever come from Galilee”)
She was pledged to be married (probably a marriage that she had no say in)
And she was a young teenager
What did Mary think of herself? We can infer her self-image from what went on her mind when God’s angel greeted her with the words, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
She was greatly troubled and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Psychologists today would describe Mary’s response as inner dissonance—the feeling that something is not quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was wrong. The phrase greatly troubled is a single Greek word which means agitated and perplexed by doubts.
In short: the way the angel greeted Mary didn’t jive with the way Mary saw herself (see Luke 1:26-38).
Mary, like many of us still today, didn’t think she was worthy of God’s attention, let alone His special blessings.
But the word the angel used when he said she was highly favored is a wonderful word! It’s root word is grace, and it only appears twice in the New Testament. This word means God’s grace which is constantly reaching out to us, even when we’re unaware of it. Look at the other passage where this word is used—
God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. (Ephesians 1:5-6 NLT)
How amazing! God wants to adopt you! It’s something that brings Him great pleasure, so He constantly pours out the blessing of His grace on us!
Are you worthy of God’s favor? YES!! Not because you did anything to earn it, but because Jesus paid the price for you on the Cross.
Now you need to respond the way Mary did. The angel told Mary to “Fear not!” The verb tense implies that Mary needed to stop fretting about her (un)worthiness, and simply accept the grace that God was extending to her. In other words, she needed to see herself as God saw her.
Mary’s response should be our response: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
Yesterday we dove into part two of our series The Stranglehold Of Worry by looking at anxiety. The medical dictionary defines anxiety as “worry compound by our own self-doubts about our ability to cope with worry.” Wow, talk about a double whammy!
You’re already worrying about something, and then you worry about what you’re worrying about!
Or for many people, anxiety boils down to worrying about what othersarethinking about what you’re worrying about.
There’s a story in Luke 10 where Dr. Luke notices Martha’s anxiety. She is trying to be the best hostess she can for Jesus and His disciples, but it has gone beyond that. She is worrying about what Jesus thinks about her hospitality. She’s tied up in knots. What makes it even worse for Martha is that her sister (who was helping Martha get everything ready for the meal) is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him speak.
Jesus tells Martha, “You are all worked up over trying to make a good impression. You are worried and upset. Look at Mary: she’s sitting quietly and listening to Me.”
Sitting quietly…
We don’t do that very well, do we? Our lives are bombarded with noise. In fact, when Jesus tells Martha she is worried, the Greek word means overly-busy. That’s how too many of us try to cope with worry, but the noise and busyness just lead to more anxiety.
We closed our service on Sunday in a very unusual, very uncomfortable way. We were silent. No music, no singing, no closing prayer. Just sitting silently at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him. It was uncomfortable but so beneficial.
I’ve cultivated a quiet heart. Like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.
It might be uncomfortable, but it is just what the Lover of your soul ordered. Find some time to switch off the radio, leave the mp3 player and cell phone behind, and get someplace where you can just sit quietly at Jesus’ feet and hear the loving words He has to say to you.
“Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28)
Craig T. Owens 