Yesterday we took a glance at the encounter between the Angel Gabriel and Mary, as the Lord articulated His plan for this favoured young lady (Luke 1:26-38). Mary humbly submitted to the Lord saying, “Do it to me according to thy word”. There are three significant lessons which can be gleaned from this:
(1) Reverence for God and His Word.
(2) Response to the Word of God.
(3) God’s Reward for obedience and submission to His Word.
Firstly, we recognise Mary’s REVERENCE for God and His Word. The word "Reverence" can be defined as showing deep respect or honour to someone or something. But when it comes to God, reverence goes way beyond that definition. Hebrews 12:28–29 says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.”
Reverence speaks of a “holy caution” and is synonymous with the fear of God. We understand it to be a product of God’s grace. It is the character with which we worship God — we approach Him and serve Him with reverence and Godly fear. The Word of God is to be seen as being not only important but holy and sanctified. When the Majesty of Heaven takes the time to speak to us, we need to truly value what is being said with reverence and Godly fear.