Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers.”
Devotion
Mary now sings a song. This is known as the Magnificat. This song teaches us many interesting things. First, Mary proclaims in her song that she needed a Savior. This demonstrates Mary’s humility and shows us the posture of her heart before God. In the famous song, Mary Did You Know?, one of the lines reads, “This child that you deliver, will soon deliver you.” Mary understood that God’s Messiah would deliver all humanity from its captivity to sin. This included her. Humility is a key component to worship. Without humility, we cannot fully worship God.
In the second part of this song, Mary focuses on God’s activity in human history. She recounts how God had done great things in her life. She chronicles His mercy, His mighty deeds, His sovereign hand in human history, His provisions, and His promises to Israel. This whole song is an outward expression of everything that was buried deep within Mary’s heart. Sometimes worship involves an outward verbal expression of praise of who God is and what He has done.
As we enter the Christmas season, one of the ways that we can reclaim the true meaning of Christmas is to worship Christ fully. This involves humbling ourselves just as Christ humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross. This might also involve a verbal recognition of who God is and what He has done in our lives. This time of the year many people will have questions as to what Christmas is all about. This provides us an opportunity to compose our own Magnificat and let those who are searching know the true meaning of Christmas.
Questions to Ponder
If someone were to ask you about the true meaning of Christmas, how would you respond? Jesus’ birth was humility personified. What are some ways that you can incorporate humility into your Christmas observances? What is one thing that God has done in your life over this past year? What attribute of God is most significant to you at this time of year? Why?
Spend some time in prayer meditating on what God revealed to you today.