More Blessed than the Mother of Jesus

While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd shouted, "How blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you." Jesus replied, "Rather, how blessed are those who hear and obey God's word."
- Luke 11:27-28

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary was the "most blessed of all women" (Luke 1:42), but Jesus' words above give us an interesting comparison. Yes, Mary was indeed blessed in her role as the mother of Jesus, but we EACH have the opportunity to be blessed if we simply hear and obey God's word. To obey, we must first hear. In order to hear, we must put ourselves in a place where we can listen.

And in hearing, praying that God opens our hearts and minds, we are transformed to be able to be able to obey. "It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him." (Philippians 2:13)

So ultimately, we just need to make the time, setting our hearts to hear God, and He does the rest. Partly, this involves REPLACING activities that we know compete with God for our affections. It might not be a "bad" thing that tries to grab our attention from hearing God's voice, but we can choose the better thing and be blessed because of it.

As they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord's feet and listened to him talk. But Martha was upset about all the work she had to do. So she asked, “Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. There's only one thing you need. Mary has made the right choice, and that one thing will not be taken away from her.”
 - Luke 10:38-42

We serve the Lord best by first sitting at His feet and listening to Him.

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