A Simple Girl from Nazareth

The Christmas season is upon us!  Have you heard the bells ringing or the choirs singing?  But Christmas isn’t just about the songs, bright lights, festivities, and colorful decorations, is it?  No, it’s about much more!  Christmas is about God doing an extraordinary thing through a simple girl from a small town called Nazareth.

Mary was a young teenager—a girl barely out of childhood—in the midst of a potentially awkward engagement to a man much older than herself.  In such a small town as Nazareth, her upcoming nuptials were most likely the talk of the town.  Yet despite all this background and back story, when God asked Mary to carry within her the Savior of the world, she said “yes” even though doing so would put her in an extremely scandalous situation—found pregnant before marriage. 
 
Has God ever asked you to do something scandalous—something socially awkward and seemingly unreasonable?  Would we say “yes” to something that had the potential to disrupt the rest of our lives?  There is so much for us to learn from the Christmas story and from all the different perspectives of the characters involved.  So as you enjoy your Christmas season, spend time reflecting on the greatest Gift ever given and the exciting events surrounding His birth.  I am confident that God has some amazing lessons for you to learn during this blessed season.
 
Read more about Mary and Joseph’s story here under my Christmas series called “God Came Down” and discover the amazingly faithful people they were in answering God’s call to take on the most difficult parenting task in history.  Posts include “Blessed Among Women”, “The Unrecognized Royal Couple”, and more.