Luke 1:28, Leviticus 26:9

Dan & Claire Maudhub

The angel went to Mary and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)

Mary the mother of Jesus received this greeting when she found out she was about to give birth to the Messiah. She fully appreciated that God had singled her out and chosen her for an unprecedented blessing. She knew that to be part of this plan would mean to be part of the change of the course of Israel's history. (She may or may not have been aware of the far-reaching eternal significance of this pregnancy for all mankind!)

Not all of us experience this personal angelic accolade or maybe even experience the deep awareness of being favoured - but the Bible says that we are all highly favoured. In Leviticus 26:9 God's promises His people, "I will look on you with favour and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you."

Being favoured by God means that you are chosen, singled-out, accepted, preferred, advantaged, blessed, anointed, listened to, significant and special. Some of those concepts I find easy to grasp. Some of those concepts are contrary to my past or present experience (Claire talking) and I found them problematic and un-believable. In my life at times I have felt like a 'background' person, someone who others overlooked. I have felt unworthy of His love - and acted like I was too. I have looked at the fortune of others and wondered, "Why not me?" But this was when I didn't (and sometimes I still don't) know the truth, which is that I am favoured. Just by being born into His family I receive all the favour promised to Israel, and to Mary. For me, the journey of knowing His favour is a daily choice to believe and a retraining of my thinking daily through His word.

Maybe you don't feel favoured at the moment? I wonder if Mary felt favoured when she was puffing round the village, heavily pregnant being despised by people judging her as an unmarried mother. What about the daily grind of bringing up a baby? What about when she released him to go to the cross? Believing the truth about God's favour helps us see past circumstances and believe His truth about us, and about us as part of His bigger picture.

I choose willingly to believe, like Mary, unquestioningly embracing that truth today - that I am highly favoured! What about you?