Do What He Tells You

This has been a very special Christmas season for me.
In the midst of so many troubling world events and culture shifts, the encouragement of Christ's coming has really touched my heart.

I've thought more diligently than most years about the courage and selflessness of Mary and Joseph.
Mary, who could easily have been stoned for her admission of pregnancy and Joseph, who could have condoned it. Beyond the miraculous birth itself, they someone survived a relocation to Egypt with an infant. This, at a time and place where resources were nil for the likes of them. They took personal responsibility in a way that few of us can fathom.

I was particularly moved by a line spoken by Mary's character in the movie, The Nativity, which I highly recommend and watch each year.  Sitting next to her cousin Elizabeth, Mary wonders, "Why would God have chosen me?  I am nothing."
It's just a movie line, but you can imagine the thought crossing her mind, "I am nothing."
I've wondered the same thing about my own redemption through Jesus' death on the cross.

I am nothing. A speck on the this earth and in the continuum of time. Truly a miserable sinner. And yet God loves me. Amazing.

There is another line spoken by Mary. Not a movie script. This one is documented in the Bible.
Mary says this to a few workers at a wedding in Cana.
"Do whatever he tells you."    John 2:5

Perhaps the most insightful bit of advice ever uttered.
"Do whatever Jesus tells you."

Read the four gospels. Read the words of Jesus quoted by the apostle John in Revelation.
And then "Do whatever he tells you."

Mary and Joseph were probably the two most courageous, humble and selfless people in history (after their son).  With all that could have been rehashed and aggrandized about inns, stables and wise men, Mary summarized the precursive nature of their roles with stunning simplicity,

"Do whatever he tells you."

Merry Christmas.  What do you believe?