Luke Chapter 1
This time of year, I always like to look back at Luke chapter one for his telling of the story about the birth of Jesus. He gives a rich background too. He tells the story of Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, who also had conceived a child, and with whom Mary stayed for three months. That was about the timeframe which coincided with Elizabeth’s delivery of her own son, John.
I also found it interesting that Gabriel, the angel who delivered the good news to these families, told Mary that her relative Elizabeth (cousin perhaps), had also conceived in a miraculous way. Luke relates the beautiful words recited by Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah (Elizabeth’s husband) as they tell of the glorious miracles that God had delivered to them. Maybe this was encouraging to Mary, who now had a kindred spirit to share these life-changing (world changing) pregnancies.
Luke’s background gives the very human touch to these miraculous happenings. Indeed, the idea of miracles becomes a part of our wonder in this Christmas season. How often do we see unexplainable things in our life and later recognize the presence of modern-day miracles?
The miracles still happen, even if they look a little different than the ones we see in Luke.
Prayer: Lord, you are the author of miracles, yesterday and today, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 