a Mary Christmas, and a Magnifi-cent New Year

The Word for today:
Psalm 34

Psalm 34 is a riveting song, and a rousing prayer. (Yup, prayers can be rousing!) It's full of promise and power and the personality of God. It starts with these unforgettable lines:

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Magnify, in the case of the infinite God, is an illogical term. We really can't make God bigger than he is. We can't overstate, enhance, hype, or embellish him.

The only way for God to get "bigger" is for us to get closer to him. Thus it follows that the one Bible character who knew him the best magnified him the most. That, of course, would be Mom:

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. (Luke 1:46-53)

I'm in awe of those lines (known as the Magnificat) and of the young Mom who spoke them. Every year at this time, I read and re-read her lines. They've become my perennial New Year's Resolution.

The only way for God to get bigger is for us to get closer to him. Resolve with me, then, to be at least one step closer to Jesus on this day next year:

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Have a Mary Christmas, and a Magnifi-cent New Year.

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