Magnify

Love this picture I stole from a blog with a great post on the Magnificat - check it out!

Some of my absolute favorite Christmas verses are Mary's song to the Lord, traditionally called the Magnificat after the first line:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.

Luke 1:46-55 ESV

My two favorite things about these verses are its complete and utter focus on the Lord and its reflection on all of the things the Lord has done for Israel in the past. 

First of all, magnifying the Lord: I absolutely love this image. For some reason, it brings to mind the picture of a kid performing a science experiment, maybe making a baking soda volcano or something, with intense amounts of focus. There's a certain level of dedication and thoroughness to the study of the Lord's character that is something which I frequently feel that I could work on. Additionally, if I'm really honest with myself, I don't spend most of my time making sure God's name is great - I spend a significant amount of time making sure that my name looks good. I think it is so humbling and amazing that Mary, the only human ever chosen to carry the Son of God, immediately responds by glorifying the Lord. It's wonderful. 

And secondly, the Lord's faithfulness to Israel. This passage echoes so many parts of old testament scripture, including:

-Hannah's song in 1 Samuel

-Many Psalms, including 103, 69, 89

-And lots of good sections of Isaiah, Genesis, and Deuteronomy 

I think reflecting on the ways God has worked in our lives is a practice that is definitely not practiced enough today (and is definitely one thing in favor of keeping a good journal!). I, for one, am going to try to carve out some time this Christmas/New Years season to reflect on all of the ways the Lord has blessed me this past year (probably an impossible feat!).

My hope for us today is that we can focus on how our actions can make the Lord bigger in our everyday lives!