What can we learn from Mary?

Only nine days left until Christmas! Now I love Christmas, I love all the get-togethers with my love ones, I love the festivity in the air, I love wrapping presents, I even love battling through the crowd doing present shopping. But of course, what I love the most is the true meaning of Christmas, which is birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Since the beginning of December, Pastor John has been focusing his sermons on Christmas. He started with the beginning of Luke Chapter 1, which is about the birth of John the Baptist. Then the past Sunday, he gave a sermon on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now I've actually never heard of any sermons on Mary, so it was quite a surprise. Pastor John reminded us that Mary, like any other characters in the bible, has qualities that we need to learn from. The message was quite an eye opener for me, so I want to take this opportunity to share with you what I've learned.

Have you ever wondered why out of all the women in Jerusalem, God chose Mary to bear His son? I mean what was so special about her that God selected her to be the mother of Jesus our Lord? I remember asking this question in the past. In fact, Mary hasn't been mentioned many times in the bible at all, the only section of the bible that significantly talk about her is in Luke chapter 1. So why did God choose Mary? She was chosen because of her submissive heart. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her that she was going to bear the son of God, Mary's response was:

"I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered, may it be to me as you have said". Luke 1:38

Now on the surface, this may seem like a very easy request to say yes to. I mean, the angel told Mary that she is going to bear the son of God, anyone would have said yes to that right? I don't think it's as simple as that, if you think about the consequences of saying yes to this demand, you would realize how hard it actually is. The society back then is so different from the society we live in today. When a woman is pregnant out of wedlock, she is basically shone of society. So Mary would have to deal with the possibility that her family might disown her because they are embarrassed by her pregnancy. She would also have to bear with the hurtful and judging comments people make about her. Finally, Mary didn't know how Joseph would react to the news, so there is the possibility that Joseph would break off the engagement. I think all these thoughts probably went through Mary's mind. But what did she do? She chose to submit to God's will. Mary chose to deny her own needs and desires, she chose to place God's will first.

"Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Jesus told His disciples that they need to deny themselves in order to follow Him. What does that mean? It means that we need to place God's will before ours. We all have desires and needs, and sometimes what we desire is not the same as God's desire. Thus, sometimes we are in a situation where we have to make a choice, in that case, do we place our own desire first, or God's desire first?  Mary chose to place God first, what will you do?

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you..." James 4:7-8