Without This, There Would be no Mother Mary
If Mary hadn’t believed, the first Christmas as we know it wouldn’t have taken place. This is what happened:
The angel Gabriel appeared to the virgin Mary and told her that she would give birth to a son, and he would be called the Son of the Most High. She believed Gabriel. In Luke 1:38, it says, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. A short time later, carrying Jesus inside her womb, Mary visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth began prophesying and said, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45)
Believing is as essential to Christians today as it was on the day Mary found out she was chosen and favored of God to be the mother of God’s Son.
What is “Belief”?
According to the dictionary on Google, belief is: Trust, faith, or confidence in something; an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.
In John 6:29, Jesus said to someone asking how to work the works of God, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
We enter the Christian faith by repenting of our sin; believing Jesus, the Son of God, died for our sins; and asking him to be our Lord and Savior. As it says in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
At Christmas, Believe
While children everywhere are encouraged to behave and believe in Santa, who only brings gifts to good children, Christians savor the story of the birth of Jesus. We believe in that miraculous event, when God wrapped himself in human flesh and was born in a manger. We believe a multitude of angels sang during a visitation with some shepherds. We believe in the star that led three wise men to Jesus
If we don’t believe the supernatural events of that first Christmas, it’s reasonable to question whether we have truly placed our faith in Jesus. The Holy Bible is God’s Word, and it focuses on Jesus throughout. The first reference to Jesus was in Genesis 3:15. Biblical scholars agree on this.
The Bible is for Believing
The Gospels are written so that we will believe in Jesus. It says in John 20:31 (NLT): “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
Did you know that all of our prayers can all be answered if we believe? Matthew 11:24 (NIV): “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
No Angel Required
As believers, we have as wonderful a hope as Mary did because God is no respecter of persons. God has a calling and a special place for all of us. We just have to nurture our faith and believing so that we are in tune to God and able to hear his voice when he speaks. We can depend on hearing from him through the Holy Spirit, and then all that’s left is to believe. One more thing to think about: Our actions demonstrate what we truly believe, just as Mary’s did.
