Scripture: St. Luke 1:39-45 (NKJV)
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a
city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41
And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe
leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she
spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed
is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of
my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting
sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who
believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her
from the Lord.”
Devotion
“But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Why is it granted to any of us that the Lord God should come to any of us? Our
sinful selfishness has caused us all to ignore him and walk away from His
wisdom and blessings. Yet, He still provides good gifts for us in the world.
Even more, He comes to us in flesh and blood to give us peace, life, and joy.
Our God did not stand aloof and leave us to rise or fall according to our own
vanities, but He became one of us so that He could truly help us. He took on
our flesh and blood and He lived perfectly as one of us so that He could
accomplish what none of us could. He paid the price for our sins so that we
could be made acceptable to God.
God came to us because He loved the world, all mankind, and He wanted to save
us by His grace and mercy, through the blessing of faith. And all these things
are undeserved gifts from our Lord. There was no worthiness in us. There was no
worthiness in Elizabeth, no worthiness in Mary or Joseph, no worthiness in any
of us, apart from the faith that the Holy Spirit conceives in us. All good
things that come to us are merciful gifts from a profoundly benevolent Lord. He
comes to us in the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus, and the Gospel which tells
us of our salvation in Him, simply out of His love for us. That is why He comes
to us!
We pray: Lord God, endless thanks and praise be to You for Your mercy in coming
to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
_______________________________________________
Sermons mailing list
[email protected]
http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
