God Gives His Favor by Lane Jordan Burday
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
(Luke 1:30)
I think we all want to be liked. We want to have plenty of friends, as well as plenty of people at our workplace, in our neighborhood, or at our church who like us. Another word for being ‘liked’ is ‘favor’—we have their favor, and it is a wonderful gift to have from others. Doesn’t it make us feel special and even loved?
What I have come to know and believe in my Christian walk over these many years is that God gives His excellent favor to all who believe in Him! In fact, the reason we celebrate Christmas and give gifts is because God gave to us first. He gave His beloved firstborn son to sinful mankind. This precious gift was God reaching out to save us and give us eternal life. What a gift!
This verse in Romans 5:8 shows us the state we were in: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NIV). This powerful verse emphasizes God’s unconditional love, showing He sent Jesus to be born and then to die for a rebellious and flawed people, which is you and me.
But God gave us favor! We didn’t deserve it, yet God’s love overcomes our failures. All He asks is for us to believe: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This is the ultimate gift anyone can give—a life for a life. And the miracle of this is that God wants to pour this gift and His favor upon you just as he did for a teenager named Mary.
My prayer for you for this Christmas season is that you will bow down before our Lord and receive Him into your heart and life. It’s that simple.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good things does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless (Psalm 84:11).
We can walk blamelessly when God is received into our lives! Won’t you pray to accept Him now?
Prayer: Oh Lord, I know I have sin in my life. Please forgive me and come into my life. I yield myself to you. Thank you for saving me and for now, giving me a new life full of your power, love, joy… and favor. Amen.
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