The girl who raised God

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

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. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:26–38

As the mother of God, Mary is the most significant woman in the history of the world. Mary’s story begins with the Mother of us all: Eve, the first woman in the history of the world.

At the dawn of creation, God made Adam and Eve in His image and likeness and gave them great freedom to enjoy their life. Sadly, our first parents succumbed to Satan and disobeyed the one restriction God placed on their life by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of this sinful separation from God was death. And God would have been perfectly just to end the story of the Bible right there. But God instead spoke to our first parents revealing a gracious rescue plan to turn His lost enemies into His loving family.

Who is the godliest woman you know? How can you show her your gratitude today for her example?