Mary and the Highest Earthly Blessing - A Christmas Devotional

The highest earthly blessing any human being has ever been given was the privilege given to Mary to bear and mother the Son of God.

And yet every person who has the saving grace of God in his soul has been given a higher privilege than this. There are two times when Jesus specifically communicated this message with reference to His mother. First, He says this in Luke 11:27-28:

While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

He confirmed this by His words in Matthew 12:46-50, saying that those who are related to Him by faith are closer to Him than those related merely by blood:

While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

At Christmas time let us not fail to appreciate the privilege of knowing Christ. There is no higher privilege that has ever been given to a human being than this:

“Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Phil.3:7-10)

May this refrain ring louder in our hearts than any other sound of Christmas:

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2Cor.9:15)