thesoulpurposedotorg

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. (Luke 1:46-51 NIV)

Mary’s song is my favorite part of the Christmas story even though is is placed while Jesus is still in the womb. There is a peice of Christmas that gets lost in my country and it is this: God despises arrogance. We hear this first in Mary’s Song and then again in the singing of Heavenly Angels to poor, despised, hard working shepherds. We see it in Christ Jesus lowly birth and then in Herod’s attempt to over-power the Promised Messiah by slaughtering untold numbers of baby boys under the age of two. I heard a radio preacher recently proclaim that the one thing God cannot stand, throughout the teachings of the Bible is pride. I believe the meaning of this term is arrogance, not pride in a job well done.
In this season of Christmas and New Years, my prayer is that this country which I so love, and am so hopeful about, will turn from our arrogance of power and bend our knees to the God who deigned to come to earth as a helpless child to inexperienced parents in a place of lowly animals celebrated only by despised and filthy barely awake shepherds. May we open our sleepy eyes. Blessed Christmas to all.