Mary said, I am the servant of the Lord

“I am the servant of the Lord. May it be unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38 MEV)

The young girl, Mary, responded with extraordinary devotion and submission to God’s offer to birth His Son. As a young virgin recently engaged to be married, she understood the immediate ordeal she would surely face by becoming pregnant. And perhaps she sensed in some vague way the ongoing controversy she might endure as the earthly mother of such a Son.

At the same time, what the angel Gabriel offered her was a great honor, and she felt unworthy. Deeply devoted to God, she submitted her own free will to what she believed to be His will. In an act of extraordinary faith and profound submission, she consented. Calling herself the Lord’s “servant”, she desired that He do with her life whatever He pleased.

---Beverly Nickles