Luke 1:56 "Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home."
Sometimes Scripture reveals truth and meaning even in the minor details. I have been studying the Bible for a long time, but it never ceases to amaze me the interesting insights you can gain from reading the same passage again and again. Recently I used the encounter of Mary (pregnant with baby Jesus at the time), and Elizabeth (pregnant with John the Baptist at the time), as an illustration of joy. When they met up, Mary's baby leaped in her womb in recognition of Elizabeth's baby. That all makes sense to me, but as I was rereading this passage I realize that immediately after this encounter two very significant things happen. One, Mary sings or recites this beautiful song or poem that in traditional terms is referred to as the Magnificent. I hadn't put it together that these events were related conversationally. Elizabeth says to Mary, "Why am I so favored that the mother of my lord should come to me?" Wow, that she knew that, blows me away. Amazing. Then Mary shares the wonderful words of humility, subservience and revelation. Beautiful words, meaningful encounter and very special moment in History.
What is said next is the verse for our devotional today. Simple words of information, but they reveal a principle that is so important to us today. Mary stays with Elizabeth for about three months and then returns home. I'm sure they were helpful to one another in pregnancy. I gather that they were unusually close, especially after the encounter. I also can figure that they needed to debrief just a little. Think about it. Maybe debrief for about a day or two or week? But three months? Here is my thought today. I can't relate, because I don't do very many things in a three month window. I work a lot on weekly responsibilities, some monthly and also some on long range planning, like envisioning 6 months or more down the pike. Three months is a strange amount of time for me. I know this is 2,000 years ago and there is a different culture and a way different technology or lack thereof. But I am picking up on a principle that is important.
Recently I spoke with a dear friend who told me that a grandbaby was to be born soon. My response was surprise because it just seemed that yesterday we were in long-range planning mode about the pregnancy. Well, time has been passing and 9 months has come and gone, so guess what? I just hadn't thought about it in about three months. A lot can, will and should happen in three months you know. Here is my point today. We think moment to moment pretty well and day to day best. Our weekly planning is pretty good also, as well as month at a time. And, frankly, we do some pretty decent annual planning. Quarterly planning is another subject altogether. I, for one, definitely need to think about getting from weekly survival planning to quarterly planning.
Mary and Elizabeth took a good chunk of time and redeemed it. They took the time necessary to prepare themselves together for one of the most important event in History. Time well spent I'm sure. Time to just be family. Time to think and talk about the impact of the babies they were carrying. I'm sure a lot of it was just being mothers together with something special in common. But I also think we could use some quarterly planning in our lives at Grace Harbor. I will be thinking and praying on these things and hoping you will too. God has a way of revealing to us truth from His Word even in indirect or related ways. I hope you got this application today. If it was only meant for me, it was worth it. Hopefully someone out there sees that we need to think about the intermediate periods of time too, and use them for redemptive purposes. May the Lord guide us in the moments, weeks, months and years and also the quarters too.
In His Service, Pastor Fred
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