Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. ( John 12:35-36 )

What was it about Mary? How was it that she was predisposed to obey the Lord?  To another woman, the Angel might have been relating the impossible framed within the reprehensible, but Mary was not that woman, and it was to her that Gabriel was sent.

Here is light for today’s path, a great reality to celebrate as we ignite our Advent candle this day … There is no greater illumination for our souls than to answer “Yes, Lord” when He speaks or sends His Word.

Let us remember that the angel Gabriel’s “explanation” to Zechariah’s “how can I be sure” (Luke 1:11-20) was . . . I am Gabriel; I stand in the Presence of God!   Oh, I love that so much!   WHAT a calling card!

The oil that saturates the wick of our brightness is the glory of a “willing heart to sustain us” (Psalm 51:12.)  Mary was willing to obey, and when the Lord’s messenger came (quite obviously the Lord’s messenger, to Mary’s willing heart, though more than a little breath-taking in appearance), she asked “How?” not “How can I know for sure?”

Let us commit ourselves to obedience this day and in this season. Jesus told us that the one who will obey shall know. (John 7:17) It seldom works the other way around with God. Let us see how often we can answer the promptings of God with these words, “Yes, Lord!” After all, how can we know what can only be seen through faith in the first place? The Lord is always doing a new thing, constantly, and nobody has ever seen it before.

We can begin by saying, “Yes, Lord, we will answer Yes!” and oh!, that will result in a merry … Mary … spirit this Advent tide and beyond.

Lord God, the Light which is Christ is the radiance of our souls. Forgive our fear of obedience. Forgive all the ways we have held tight to our failures, especially those times when we thought we were doing right and everything seemed to turn out wrong. Forgive the times when we quit and gave up too soon, and forgive those times when we just didn’t know You or wait upon You in the first place! Almighty God! Your ways are high, but they can be known by those who seek You.

             We can obey, O Lord, because we can love. We choose to walk in that light, as Jesus is in the Light.   We are Your people, who stand in Your Presence, and we can obey You.

detail of the Anunciation

Andres del Sarto, 1528

Wikipedia, public domain