My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
Luke 1:46-50
How do you view yourself in relationship to God?
In these verses, Mary begins to reflect upon the magnificence of God to welcome her into the salvation of this world. She notes the eternal and world-encompassing impact of God’s plans through her.* Seeing His greatness next to her lowliness, we see in these few words that Mary did not hold an elevated view of herself.* Though we venerate Mary today, she saw herself as socially low and insignificant.* Coming from a little-known town (see previous devotional for more information about Nazareth), it was not surprising that she saw her self as unimportant.
This lowly status in society allows for a great gratitude to emerge from her soul as she realizes the truth and magnitude of the call of God on her life.* Mary did not expect to be used by God in any significant way.* She did not earn His grace by some human means.
Mary serves as a model to us all as an example of how God desires to work through “the least of these.”* Mary shows us how to take what God is doing in our lives and reflect it back to Him as praise and gratitude. Mary reminds us that God wants to do amazing things through us as well… not because of our works but because of His grace.*
What do you expect God to do in your life? Mary did not think God owed her a thing.* How do you respond when God does something in your life? Do you believe you are too lowly and insignificant for God to work through you? You might be just the person He’s looking for.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to praise Him for all that He has done. Perhaps today God wants you to pause long enough to take account of what He’s done and the positive, eternity-shifting ramifications of His actions. Maybe today God wants you to see yourself honestly low while honestly seeing the heights of the work that He wants to do through you.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!
*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 1:46–49). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 93–95). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 54–55). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, pp. 65–66). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 65–66). Zondervan Publishing House.
Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke: 1:1–9:50 (Vol. 1, pp. 148–152). Baker Academic.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, pp. 68–71). Word, Incorporated.