"And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35, ESV).
Holy. The word described Mary's son, the Son of God. I wonder if she fully understood it all. Can you imagine that you would give birth to the Holy, Son of God? My Logos Bible software describes holy as "exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness; divine" from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. I think of holy as one who is set-apart, one who is pure and without fault While Mary heard the angel say it, I am sure the thought must have overwhelmed her. And yet somehow, she trusted God to walk her through each day and learned to depend on the Holy Spirit that had come on her.
It is one thing to know that God is holy. We may not comprehend that but we can accept it. The hard part comes when we try to understand how we are to be holy as it says in 1 Peter 1:16, "since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy." We are to be set apart, to be holy and pure. The only way we can do that is with the help of the Holy Sprit. When we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive them and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
This season, let's be like Mary. Let's trust that God is holy. Let's believe in Him and take Him at His word. Let's ask forgiveness of Him and others when we lose our cool because the season is so hectic. Let's remember that there are more important things than perfectly decorated homes and perfect gifts. Let's remember that He is the reason we are here. He is holy. Let's fall on our faces, confess our sins, and make a commitment to start over and to be like Him - Holy.
Will you join me? So many need to know the cleansing power of God. He is the reason for the season.
