One Of The Most Powerful Statements In The Bible

"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.”
Luke 1:38

A lot of ink has been spilt trying to decide why Mary was chosen to be the mother of our Lord over and above every other woman to be born in the course of history. This question has haunted scholars as they try to determine what made her so special. I will tell you my opinion and its rather simple - she wasn’t special, she was open.

I think one of the most powerful lines ever uttered is found in this passage - “let it be to me according to your word.” I think this is why Mary was chosen. I think this is the same line that God wants all of us to speak. This one sentence is the heartbeat of what God wants for all of us, pure openness to Him and His Holy Spirit.

Why do I think this is so important? A couple of reasons. The first one is that it shows our willingness to surrender to Him. One of the common themes in the Scriptures is this battle we fight against God. We try to fight against what He wants to do in our lives because we know how much it will cost us. Now, this isn’t a war or battle that we can win, but we try to fight it nonetheless.  

Mary didn’t against God in this passage, she surrendered to Him immediately. He was asking a lot of her, but she didn’t flinch. She laid down her dreams, her life, her own ambitions for what God wanted to do in and through her. Mary said, let it be to me. She was giving God permission to do as he wanted.

The second reason I think this line is so important is that she attached her surrender to God’s word. She didn’t just surrender willy-nilly to the Lord. She surrendered to His Word to her. It was a specific word, aimed at Mary and involving the rest of her life. It was a promise of joy and heartache.

This word the angel shared with her was a word from God and those types of words can bring about miracles and power and change in our lives. When God speaks, things change. The question is whether we will tie our obedience to His Word or not. When God speaks, we need to obey. Our obedience should be to His Word to us. We should not only hear it, but we should obey it fully.

That’s what Mary did. Now, Mary wasn’t being passive in saying it like this, she was engaged in what God was doing. It wasn’t like she was saying, “I guess so.” She was giving God full permission to do his work in her. She was completely open and ready for what God was going to do in her life. That's why I believe this is one of the most powerful statements in all of Scripture, "let it be to me according to your word."

This is a display of ultimate trust. Mary surrendered her life into the hands of the one who created her. She put her trust fully in Him. This should be all of our attitudes. We should desire God to move in our lives and we should be open when He does. Our heart attitude should echo Mary’s powerful statement. Lord, let it be unto me according to your word.

Prayer - Father, we desire for you to move in our lives and to work in our hearts. Help our posture towards you to be one of receptivity and openness. Lord, we want you to work in our hearts and in our lives. We surrender to you. Help us Lord to follow you. In Jesus name we pray, amen.