Luke 1:35, 37–38
And the angel answered her… “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Through the stories of Elizabeth and Mary we see the pattern for faithful worship: God speaks and blesses; we believe and worship. God initiates; we respond. God reveals; we rejoice.
Today, God continues to speak to us by the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures that He has written through His servants like Luke. When we hear from God we are to believe and respond. We are to trust Him, obey Him, love Him, and follow Him.
God blesses us in that everything we have – including life itself – is a gift from Him. In addition, He has blessed us with Jesus’ life and death in our place, so that we can be forgiven of sin and transformed. He has blessed us with Jesus’ resurrection so that we can have hope for eternal life. He has blessed us with the Holy Spirit so that we can have power, guidance, and comfort in the present life. Any time we are struggling with worshiping we must focus on remembering who God is and what God has done. As we do, our new nature prompted by the Spirit begins to respond in worship echoing back the greatness of our great God. This is precisely what we see modeled by Elizabeth, Mary, and John.
How is your worship? Do you trust God’s Word and appreciate God’s blessings in your life? How have you responded to these gifts?