Are those not the words we all long to hear - "that we have found favor with God!" I know I do. In today's Gospel (Luke 1:26-28) we hear the Angel's greeting to Mary.Honestly, I believe we have already found favor with God. The question is - does God find favor with us? I wonder why we hold the Father at arms length so much of the time. It could be we tell ourselves "see that's Mary - the Mother of God - of course she has found favor with the Lord - as for me - if God knew all that I have done (newsflash - he knows) there is no way He will want to find favor with me."
We all know God has given us free will and all - but really - I ask, who in their right mind would choose not to be with God? His favor is there for us - all of us - no matter what we have done - the sins we committed - the people we hurt - the mistakes we've made. Honestly, God loves it when we are a "hot mess" for he knows we are making a conscious choice - we are choosing to turn away from this world and walk in his light.
Unfortunately, in this world, there are those who have chosen to believe the false promises of this world and allowed those promises to cloud their judgement. Plus, also, there are those who have chosen to not choose one way or the other (hate to tell you - that "not choosing" is a chose.)
We must know that the Lord's heart is so full of love for us; and that it hurts his heart
when we turn away from his gifts. Here he is - ready to shower us with all his love and mercy - and we say "no thanks" or "maybe - I'll get back with you later on that." It is not God withholding from us - it is us not accepting his great gifts.
Advent is a wonderful time to rethink our relationship with the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you have held the Lord at arms length and make adjustments in your life. Christmas is coming soon - I want to welcome the Christ Child with a full hug!
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