Luke 1:46-47

New International Version (NIV)

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

For Meditation

Only a life that has received a touch of God’s grace can praise Him. Such a heart appreciates God’s favor and rises to sing to God. The beauty of Mary’s song ascends this height to praise the Lord as a testimony to His goodness expressed in this favor to her (Luke 1:46-55).

Tune your heart to Mary’s song, and you can sense her overflowing joy. You can feel her appreciation for God for choosing her to carry His only Son in her womb. It is a true testimony from the heart of a woman who knew she didn’t deserve any of that, but for God’s kindness towards her. She knew she could do nothing to deserve the favor. And to pay for it? Never in eternity! Sell her, her household, and everything she ever owned on this planet would be like a millionth portion of a drop in the ocean. She could never have paid for it. All she had was a song of praise from the depth of her heart to the King of glory—her heart’s outpouring of joy in response to His grace.

We, too, have received from God an immeasurable outpouring of grace for our redemption in the Child she bore and the Son He gave to us through her. We have become beneficiaries of her blessing for the praise of glory in Christ. As Paul writes,

In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He has lavished on us (Ephesians 1:7). 

So, what can we also give back to God for all His goodness and kindness to us? What can you give back to the Almighty God for choosing you in Christ before creation (Eph 1:4) and saving you (2:8-9)? Can you, like Mary, give back to God your heart’s song—the outflow of a thankful heart to Him?

As the Psalmist says,

What can I offer the Lord or all he has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me. (Psa. 116:12-13 nlt)? 

That is what the Hebrews writer calls “a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of [the] lips that openly profess His name” (Heb. 13:15).

It is all God needs from us, my friend. So, why not give God what He desires from you—your heart’s song of praise, the outpouring of a sacrificed life that pleases God—your reasonable act of worship?

Make no mistake about this. Our unchanging God has been gracious to you, even through your difficulties, harassment, pain, and suffering this week. Therefore, you can open your heart and still sing to Him today, because He deserves it.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like you and me.

Shalom