*or love-slave. See Deuteronomy 15:16-17 for further definition of the word.
In this passage the angel didn’t say anything about how things were going to turn out for Mary. He didn’t assure her that God would take care of her in the “reproach” she was about to take on. As is typical of messages from God, this announcement focused on God and the great worthiness of His plan. As far as assurance of her own personal well-being, Mary got nothing.
Yet still, believing that God is a good God who takes care of His people and having faith that this was a blessing not to be missed for all the inconvenience it brought her (see her magnificat in Luke 1:46-55), Mary submitted to the will of God. And her response seems to indicate she wasn’t even thinking of herself at all! She recognized herself as God’s “bondservant” created for Him and His purposes. She willingly gave herself up to God’s plans without setting up stipulations and conditions (“Well, okay, You can do this but don’t do that!”) as we seem prone to do in our interactions with God. In humility, Mary yielded herself entirely–her body, her honor, her future, her dreams–to God to do as He would.
What an amazing example of a love-slave! An example the rest of us should follow. Too often in my life I have set conditions for God and have lost sight of the beauty of His master plan because I've been too focused on my role it (often smaller and more tedious than my diva complex is willing to accept). When we accept that we aren't the free beings that Western philosophy would claim we are, when we embrace our glorious role as servants of the Living God who follow in the footsteps of the Servant-King, then and only then will we see the beauty of God's plan and in submission to it find we were made for this satisfying role. After all, our Creator knows best what He created us for, and our bountiful God knows how to restore in fullest measure all that we surrender to Him.
Oh that we might be such willing bondservants as Mary and like her find fulfillment in His plan for us!
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