Mary's Worship continued...
Humble Worship (4/4)
True worship can come only from a humble heart, one that has no thought for itself. Humility is being so focused on God that what happens to you is of little significance. God gives grace to the humble so anyone who comes to worship him must come in humility.
In verse 48, Mary says that the Lord has "looked on the humble estate of his servant." Mary finds it unfathomable that God would choose such a common girl as herself to be the mother of Jesus. Mary didn't have thoughts of, "Well you know God made a pretty good choice in me," or "Certainly there are a lot of other women in the world but none as godly as me." No, her initial thoughts were toward heaven. Mary didn't even respond to Elizabeth's praises in the verses just prior to these. She was overwhelmed by how God could possibly use someone as common as herself. When Mary uses the term 'humble estate' she's referring to herself as a nobody both socially and culturally, just a lowly wife of the village carpenter, and an unlikely mother for Jesus.
While Mary was obviously a pure and godly woman, she didn't see herself that way. It's worth noting that people who are, don't typically see themselves that way. John MacArthur writes, "Those who are truly pure and truly godly and truly righteous don't think they are, in fact they know they are not. Because one of the functions of Godliness and purity and righteousness is to be able to search out every nook and cranny of our iniquity and they can do it. And the more godly you are, the less godly you believe yourself to be and so there is a certain brokenness and humility. The essence of true spirituality is to not think you have it."
So what is the Christmas spirit? It's an attitude of worship, a deep heartfelt understanding (internal) that rises up (intense) from within you out of praise and humility (humble) on a consistent basis (habitual).
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