We Are All Pregnant With This!
I ran across a phrase with me that got my attention and it is the motivator for my post today. In trying to find a scripture reference that would fit, this was the one most appropriate:
So here, finally, is the story of the birth of Jesus the Anointed (it is quite a remarkable story): Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, son of David. They hadn’t married. And yet, some time well before their wedding date, Mary learned that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 (The Voice)
In thinking about the impossibility of this story. (to mortal man), and thinking about the phrase I ran across today – "pregnant by grace", I realized that we are all pregnant with this – grace – the unmerited favor of God has overshadowed and even indwells in all of us. We do not have the power to wake up or even go to sleep; we cannot breathe, apart from the grace of God; we cannot walk, talk, eat, or think – apart from the grace of God. Although there would be some who would argue with me this point – they have yet to understand that even the cells that have been said to divide and multiply had to have an origin. All the magnificence of our human frame and everything inside that is so intricately and wonderfully made, does so by the Hand of the Creator. who extends to us the ‘grace‘ to live.
As we look at the phrase, ‘pregnant with grace’ = it. speaks to more than the grace that propels our life in motion – it also speaks to the indwelling of a gift that needs to mature and come to term – and be released to live on its’ own. That grace we enjoy, that. grace that fills us, needs to overflow to those around us. Recognizing our own limitations should allow us to extend that ‘grace’ to others who also have limitations. Recognizing that the gifts. and. talents and blessings that we enjoy are given graciously to us, it should be a natural by-product to share those gifts and blessings with others.
A key word in the above scripture is "learned" – Mary learned that she was pregnant. So too, with us, we have to learn that we are. ‘pregnant with grace’ to begin to understand the vast richness of what we are carrying, and that it. cannot be a pregnancy that is overdue – it must be birthed – for new grace to be conceived.
Something to think about,
Maria