Mary's Song

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Svior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  Luke 1:46b-49

The verses above are from the Magnificat, Mary's song after agreeing to serve as the mother of the Christ. 

What does it mean to have a soul that magnifies the Lord?  I have a ruler in my desk drawer that will isolate and magnify a line of text on a spreadsheet.  It helps me to keep my place as I read numbers; it makes them bigger and easier to see; and it keeps me from looking at the wrong lines.  I wonder if magnifying the Lord is similar -- to magnify the Lord would be to make him more visible to those around us -- to make it hard to miss him.  It would mean that someone could see God through us.  Do we magnify the Lord?

And the next line -- her spirit rejoices in God her Savior.  She serves with joy.  She isn't grouchy or morose about it.  She could have been -- her life was now in danger, her reputation would be shot.  Nothing will be the same again, and yet she rejoices.  Do we rejoice in our service?

Mary sees what she is doing as a gift of grace from God, one that she doesn't deserve.  She doesn't believe he has chosen her because of her worthiness, but instead, in spite of her unworthiness.  Do we sometimes believe we deserve God's favor?  Do we see opportunities to serve God as gifts of grace?

It's a beautiful song,and it holds much for us to consider.