A Moment That Changed Eternity

"Mary responded, 'I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true.' And then the angel left her." Luke 1: 38 New Living Translation

How long did it take Mary to say these words? I spoke them in five second; five seconds. All she needed was the reassurance of the angel of how she would become pregnant and quickly off her lips come these words.

Would she have said yes so hurriedly had she heard the words of Simeon ringing in her ears, words that were spoken after Mary's purification from giving birth? "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also." Luke 2:35 English Standard Version

Credit it to youthful naiveté that Mary would answer "yes" with haste.

However, one word in Mary's response tells me that it was more than youthful naiveté.  In the Greek she calls herself a doule, often translated as a servant or handmaiden.  The deeper meaning of this word is slave.  "I am the Lord's slave." Has a different ring, doesn't it?

Though she couldn't see the cross and the pain that would pierce her soul, she probably had a pretty good understanding that being the mother of God was not going to easy.

The moment that changed your eternity was when God called you to come and see for yourself the one who has borne the pain and suffering of your life. Like Mary this call comes out of the blue; neither earned by you or deserved by you.

Living as a child of God comes with Mary's paradox. It comes with the greatest joy that we will ever know and a sword that pierces our soul.

May God hear from our lips, "May it be to me."

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Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2014 Douglas P. Brauner.  ARR.