Chosen to Carry Glory
Luke 1:46–47, 49 (NIV)
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.”
Break It Down
• My soul glorifies the Lord — Mary’s worship starts by glorifying God. This is the inner heart responding to God’s greatness.
• My spirit rejoices in God my Savior — Joy rises because God is not distant, he is personal, rescuing, and near.
• The Mighty One has done great things for me — Mary does not pretend she is strong enough for this. She points to God’s strength and God’s initiative.
• Holy is His name — She anchors everything in who God is, pure, faithful, set apart, completely trustworthy.
God’s Intention
At Christmas we often rush to the manger and miss the miracle happening inside a teenage girl’s heart. Mary is young, ordinary, and carrying a weight no human could carry on their own, yet what spills out of her is worship. Her song is not a polished speech. It is a glimpse into a heart that is trembling and trusting at the same time.
God’s intention is not only to send his Son, but to draw us back into relationship. And Mary’s response shows us what relationship looks like when God interrupts life with grace, it becomes surrender, wonder, and praise.
Weave in the Passage
Imagine being Mary.
A young peasant woman, likely around sixteen. Not established. Not influential. Not ‘ready’ by any human measure. She is only just stepping into adulthood, and suddenly heaven is speaking her name.
An angel tells her she will carry the Messiah, the promised one, the King of kings, God’s own Son.
How does a sixteen-year-old hold that? You can hear it in her song, awe, trembling faith, a holy ‘How can this be?’ She is piecing it together from what she has heard in synagogue, what she knows of the Scriptures, and what she has just experienced, an encounter with the living God.
And still, she worships.
Mary doesn’t say, ‘Look what I have been chosen for.’ She says, ‘Look what God has done.’ She calls God her Savior, even as she carries the Savior. She declares God’s holiness before she understands all the cost. Later, Scripture tells us she treasured things and pondered them in her heart. She held mystery with reverence.
This is the wonder of Christmas, God entering our world through humility, through a young woman’s yes, through a plan older than time, so that relationship could be restored and access to the Father opened through Christ.
Related Scripture
• Luke 1:38 — “I am the Lord’s servant… May your word to me be fulfilled.”
• Luke 2:19 — Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
• Isaiah 9:6 — The promised child, the coming King.
• Galatians 4:4–5 — “When the set time had fully come… that we might receive adoption.”
• John 1:14 — “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Application for Today
• Slow down long enough to marvel. Let Christmas be more than activity, let it become worship.
• Bring God your ‘How can this be?’ Questions are not unbelief, they can be the doorway to deeper trust.
• Offer God your yes again. Not a dramatic promise, a simple surrender, “Lord, I am yours. Do in me what you desire.”
• Treasure the moments. Write down what God is speaking. Hold it close, and let it shape you over time.
Prayer
Lord, I marvel at the mystery of Christmas. You came near. You chose humility. You entered our world to restore relationship. Teach my heart to respond like Mary, with worship, with surrender, with a quiet yes. When I don’t understand, help me to treasure your words and trust your goodness. Thank you that the Mighty One has done great things for us, holy is your name. Amen.
Reflection
1. What part of the Christmas story has become too familiar for me, and what would it look like to marvel again?
2. Where am I carrying questions right now, and how can I bring them honestly to God?
3. What might a simple ‘yes’ look like for me today?
4. What is one thing I want to treasure and ponder in my heart this week?
