Mary did you know that your baby boy
would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy
would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary did you know that your baby boy
will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy
will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy
has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God

Mary did you know? (x6)

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy
is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy
would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I Am

Mary did you know? (x6)
Oh Mary did you know?

– Songwriters: Buddy Greene/Mark Lowry

So it’s December. Here we are again at that time of year when songs revolving around our Savior’s birth can be heard over the air waves, nativity scenes adorn many a doorstep, and candles are lit in honor of that humble yet holy night among the stables. At this time of year, sermons will be given about how “Jesus is the reason for the Season”. Other sermons will be given about how “Jesus is not the reason for the Season”. Still, some sermons will be given about how “Jesus is the reason for every Season”…and the list goes on. Google searches entitled “Was Jesus really born on December 25th?” will skyrocket this month, and there will be as many differing answers as there are stars in the heavens.

Time and space will not permit an in-depth look at this topic today, but let me suffice it to say this: for those who hold the belief that Jesus was not born in December, please remember to use this prime opportunity to talk about Christ while He is fresh on people’s minds (rather than squelch their passion in futile debate). For those of you who hold the belief that Jesus was born in December, please don’t forsake to honor Him all year round as well…He deserves so much more than a mere 25 days of remembrance.

Without further ado, this is not another lesson about Jesus’ birth day. It is, however, a lesson about Jesus’ birth mother – Mary.

Mary of Nazareth…who was she? To the ancient passerby, a pregnant traveler with an ordinary baby in her womb. To the practicing Catholic, a mediator between man and God. To the Atheist, a teenage girl of old who had a dirty secret and a big imagination. In truth, she was none of those things. She was an ordinary woman, but she carried no ordinary child. She assisted in bringing God to man (through pregnancy), but she does not assist in bringing man to God (through prayer). She had a big secret, but it was not the result of sin…

Mary was handpicked by God to be the vessel carrying the Savior into the world. Why? Was she some kind of superhuman? Was she sinless, perhaps? Or was it healthiness of body that made her fit for this role…a perfect reproductive system? None of these things are inferred by God’s word. Instead, I would propose that what made Mary fit for her role was, in a word…her heart. See, only an individual with A Mary Heart is qualified to fill the job position of Christ-bearer. And are we not all to bear Christ in our bodies, as temples of the living God? (2 Corinthians 4:10, 1 Corinthians 3:16) Therefore, the question I would like each of us to ask of ourselves this day is: “do I have a Mary heart?”

Come see for yourself! There are three essential qualities that distinguish A Mary Heart. Firstly, A Mary Heart is…

---

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine… – Proverbs 17:22a

The Bible tells us that a merry heart does good like a medicine, but did you know that a Mary heart does the same thing? Ironically, when we put on a heart like Mary, our hearts in turn will become merry.

A Mary Heart is a heart that defers. To defer means to submit one’s will to the will of another.

Who remembers the pitiful feeling of being sick as a child? On such occasions, you likely turned to your parents for comfort – yet immediately regretted it once a medicine-laden spoon made its way toward your mouth. If you were anything like me, that spoonful of bitter tonic was the bane of your existence. It would appear (in the moment) that eternal sickness would be better than ingesting one drop of that foul tasting medicine! Your parents perhaps said, “it doesn’t taste good, but it’s good for you”…yeah right, you may have thought, mean old Dad and Mom just want to see me suffer! However, once the bitter taste faded from your tongue and the sweetness of relief set in, all thoughts of distaste turned to gratitude. The benefit of the relieving outcome ended up outweighing the cost of the temporal discomfort. At the end of the day, your parents knew something you didn’t: medicine does good.

Practicing deference is a lot like taking medicine. Deferring our will to the will of another can be hard to do. Because of our selfish pride, deference is hard to swallow and leaves us with a bad taste in our mouth. Yet it does us good! The Christian life calls us to defer to God and those He has put in authority over us. The Lord, being the loving parent that He is, knows that a healthy spoonful of deference is just what the doctor ordered for relieving us of our sin-sickness. Instead of fighting our Father, we should realize that He knows best. Just like medicine, deference can seem foul in the moment. Yet an obedient, deferential life works the wonders of a healthy tonic. It will bring much needed relief to us – if only we will forsake our stubbornness and send it down the hatch!

Now what does all this have to do with Mary, the mother of Jesus? Allow me to point out what a powerful example of deference she was…

We are all familiar with Luke’s introductory account of Mary found in Luke chapter one: Gabriel travels to Nazareth, visits Mary, and apprises her of the upcoming role she has as mother of the Messiah. As only an engaged woman, she was shocked at such an announcement…sinning by fornication was not on her radar, and the wedding was not for some time! When Gabriel assured her that she would conceive by miraculous measures and that it was indeed God’s will, listen to what she said:

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. – Luke 1:38a

This has to go down in history as one of the most inspiring sentences ever spoken. It is evident from her words that Mary had a deferring heart! The Lord’s will was her medicine, and she didn’t ask for a list of ingredients. She didn’t ask to sample a drop first to see how it tasted. She didn’t ask if she could spit it out if the flavor didn’t sit well with her. Rather, her attitude was one that deferred: Father said this tonic is good for me? I know He always wants what’s best for my life. What are you waiting for? Hand over that spoon! I’m ready to drink every last drop…I know great things are coming for me once I do. Medicine does good.

Now, none of us are going to be visited by an angel in this dispensation. In this day and age, God’s will is revealed to us in the Bible. Even so, this does not negate our responsibility to answer to God’s will in the same manner that Mary did. Regardless of the means by which we are apprised of God’s will, we all have to decide whether we will speedily defer to Him, or do things our own way…

Ask yourself: When I read the bible and the Lord’s will is revealed to me, do I try to fight His design for my life? Or will I be like Mary, and say “God wants [xyz] from me? Alright, sign me up! I may not know all that such a choice will entail, but I know obeying Him will always do me good just like medicine”

Having a heart that defers is having a heart like Mary – and a Mary heart is a merry heart!

---

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance… – Proverbs 15:13a

The Bible tells us that a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but did you know that A Mary Heart does the same thing? Remember, when we put on a heart like Mary, our hearts in turn will become merry.

A Mary Heart is a heart that delights. To delight in something is to take great pleasure therein.

There is a misconception in our world that happiness is everything. “Do what makes you happy”…I have heard this expression countless times. The problem with over-emphasizing happiness is the fact that happiness is little more than a feeling…a fickle thing that comes and goes with whatever outside circumstance we find ourselves in at the moment. We feel happy when people are kind to us, and unhappy when they are unkind. We feel happy when we have a full bank account, but unhappy when the numbers decline. We feel happy when the weather is to our liking, and unhappy when it is too hot or too cold. Frankly, chasing happiness is exhausting…the moment you catch up with it, there it floats away again when circumstances change. Happiness is unsubstantial. You can’t count on it to stick around beyond the present moment; far less tomorrow, next week, next month or next year! I do not at all recommend chasing happiness, but I absolutely recommend seeking joy. Joy is not dependent upon outside sources, but comes from within. The joy of the Lord within us is durable, lasting, and has eternal merit. Joy has the power to cheer your countenance from the inside out…it is truly delightful.

Mary gives us a potent example of what it means to have true inner joy. One instance that gives us a peek into this joy was on the night of her Son’s birth. We all know the circumstance surrounding Jesus’ birth – the long, uncomfortable ride in the days preceding it; the lack of space at the inn upon arriving in Bethlehem; the unorthodox delivery in the midst of reeking livestock. The whole scenario would make most women’s heads spin. Yet I hardly believe it coincidental that there is no record given of Mary hurling complaints towards God, shrieking at her husband in frustration, or griping to the townspeople about her sorry lot. It would appear that the state of her heart kept any such actions in check. Truth be told, there are no recorded words of Mary on the night of Jesus’ birth to make an extraordinary case for what she did or did not say or do. However, listen to what is said about Mary on that evening:

…Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. – Luke 2:19b

An angry, discontented, woe-is-me individual is not one who ponders the ways of the Lord in their heart. When happiness is disturbed because of unfavorable circumstances, such people are volatile and irrational, unable to think of anyone but themselves. I don’t believe we see any such attitude in Mary. On the contrary, we see her inner joy…we see a woman delighting in the Lord regardless of the environment in which she found herself. We even see another instance of this later on in Luke chapter two. In Jesus’ twelfth year, He and His family were in Jerusalem and He stayed behind talking with learned men as His group went on without Him (you know the account…). When His location was discovered, and He explained to His parents that Him doing Lordly things was something they were going to have to grow accustomed to…what did it say of His mother?

…his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. – Luke 2:51

Bear in mind that this is over a decade jump from the first time we heard similar words of Mary. Her heart had remained as joyous and delightful as ever…this was a woman who craved the things of God. Do we ponder the things of God in all circumstances? Do we rely on joy to carry us through life, as opposed to fleeting happiness? Do our hearts maintain good cheer throughout the years?

Having a heart that delights is having a heart like Mary – and a Mary heart is a merry heart!

---

…he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. – Proverbs 15:15b

The Bible says that when you have a merry heart you have a continual feast, but did you know that a Mary heart does the same thing? Remember, when we put on a heart like Mary, our hearts in turn will become merry.

A Mary Heart is one that declares. To declare is to proclaim something in an emphatic manner.

I don’t talk about sports all that much. It’s not that I hate sports, or even find them foolish or a waste of time. Bottom line, I’m simply just not very interested in them. I don’t play sports, I don’t watch sports on television, and I don’t watch sports from the bleachers. Therefore you would hardly ever hear me carrying on a conversation about sports…I would have nothing to say on a matter I’m unfamiliar with and uninvolved in. You surely wouldn’t hear me declaring my ideas about sports (frankly, I don’t have any) – the passion is not in me.

Now whether someone like sports or not is neither here nor there. Yet such a concept can easily illustrate our heart towards God. Let’s turn the previous paragraph to a different light:

I don’t talk about God all that much. It’s not that I hate Him, or even find His ways foolish or a waste of time. Bottom line, I’m just not very interested in Him. I don’t pray to Him, I don’t fellowship with the church, I don’t read my Bible. Therefore you would hardly ever hear me carrying on a conversation about God…I would have nothing to say about Someone I’m unfamiliar with and uninvolved with. You surely wouldn’t hear me declaring my ideas about God (frankly, I don’t have any) – the passion is not in me.

Whether we’re talking about sports or the God of the Universe, it is a fact that people tend to talk about what they love. When people are passionate about God, it is as if a continual feast is pouring from their lips…an invitation to others to come and “chew on” spiritual matters. If we have little ability to carry on a spiritual conversation, it is an indication that our spirit is stunted and we have work to do! Let us look to Mary’s beautiful example of declaration, which is yet another proof of her beautiful heart…

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. – Luke 1:46-55

That girl had some serious passion! The words we just read were the overflow of a grateful heart…a heart that was compelled to share the goodness of the Lord with others. She spoke of what the Lord had done personally in her life, she spoke of His character and His ways, and she spoke of what He had done in the lives of His people before she was even born! Her declaration left a continuous, bountiful feast before her cousin Elisabeth, and the richness of the truths she spoke has extended even unto us in this modern age.

Are we passionate about the Lord? Are His praises ever on our lips? Do we enjoy engaging in spiritual discussion, or are we bored stiff at the very thought?

Having a heart that declares is having a heart like Mary – and a Mary heart is a merry heart!

---

In conclusion…

Mary, did you know?

As the classic song suggests, Mary likely didn’t know all that she was signing up for when she agreed to conceive, birth, and raise the Savior of the world. Likely, she didn’t think at first about how she would be judged as having fornicated with her groom-to-be when her growing midsection began to show. It probably didn’t cross her mind that she would one day be fleeing for her baby’s life at the hands of a cruel king. I bet she didn’t guess that her child would grow up to be mocked, ridiculed, and falsely accused. I guarantee she didn’t know that she would watch her cherished Son be tortured and murdered in front of her very eyes. All she knew was that the Lord asked her to perform His will…and she said yes. I want to have a heart like Mary…what about you?

A Mary Heart is a heart that defers, a heart that delights, and a heart that declares. Put on these virtues, and the words might equally be spoken to you that were spoken to the mother of our Lord:

Fear not, Mary [and your name here]: for thou hast found favour with God. – Luke 1:30

Every “Mary Heart” merits favor. Want to be a woman with a merry heart? Then you must begin to cultivate a heart like Mary.

For God’s Glory,
Mrs. Dustin Bolks

---

Mrs. Dustin Bolks is a church of Christ preacher’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

A man is sitting in his living room when the news is interrupted by news of a devastating rainstorm hitting the area. The man’s wife says, “Goodness, Honey, that sounds like it might flood the area where we live”.

The man replies, “I have prayed to God to save me, and I have faith that He will answer my prayer”.

Well, about 12 inches of rain later, the streets are starting to fill with water. The man’s neighbor knocks on the door and says, “It’s going to be a pretty bad flood, but I can still drive my truck. I’ve got room to take you and your wife to higher ground”. The man’s wife gets up to go, but stops when he says, “I have prayed to God to save me, and I have faith that He will answer my prayer”.

Some time later, the water has entered the house, and it looks like a river outside. The local fire department sends a boat out to look for people who are stranded, and they pull up to the window. “Come on! This may be your last chance to get out!” Again the man replies, “I have prayed to God to save me, and I have faith that He will answer my prayer”.

Finally, the man and his wife are standing on their roof, water rushing by, the house obviously about to collapse. Suddenly, the sound of the storm is drowned out by the roar of the search-and-rescue helicopter. They let down a ladder and motion for the couple to climb up. The wife can stand it no more and climbs up, but as she climbs, she can just barely hear her husband shouting, “I have prayed to God to save me, and I have faith that He will answer my prayer”.

The man drowns.

At the entrance to Heaven, he is a bit peeved. He asks to speak with God.

“Father, I had such faith that you would save me. How could you let me drown?”

God replies: “What more did you want? I sent a news report, a truck, a boat, and a helicopter!”

– Author Unknown

Oh boy. Here is a prime example of a problematic prayer! In this story, even though the man was praying continuously and fervently, he never saw his request (to survive the flood) come to fruition. Why? Because his request ran into a roadblock – in this instance, his own lack of action.

Just like the man in the story, there are times in our lives that our requests will run into roadblocks. We could be praying all day every day, continually laying our requests before God…yet never see any real results. We think if we just believe a little more, pray a little harder, or pray a little longer that we will receive a favorable response – yet there continues to be only silence from Heaven.

“How can this be?!” you might ask…”I thought the bible says ‘ ask and ye shall receive‘!”

The Bible certainly does say that, but we must learn to take God’s word as a whole and balance one truth with another. Did you know that the bible also teaches that our requests can run into roadblocks? It’s true – there are occasions when God turns down our requests with a resounding “no”…case closed. For what reason? Maybe it stems from a lack of action on our parts, or maybe from another reason altogether.

Are your requests running into roadblocks? Have you perhaps been guilty of saying a problematic prayer? Let us look into three questions that we would do well to ask ourselves of our prayers when we find Heaven to be silent…

---

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. – James 1:5-7

Have you sought the Lord on behalf of your heart’s condition?
Do you ask God to change you for the better?
Are you continually begging Him to make you more righteous, more wise, more holy?
Are you getting only silence in return?

If this is the case, then perhaps your request is running into a roadblock…a lack of faith.

Like the passage above states, one mustn’t think they’ll be receiving anything from the Lord unless they make their request in faith! Now don’t misunderstand…biblical faith is not merely believing (as even Satan and the demons do), but rather a belief coupled with action. Faith is equal parts substance (belief) and evidence (action)…both are mandatory. (Hebrews 11:1)

Remember the man in our story? He had a believing faith, but he did not an active faith. He prayed, but then failed to follow up by doing his part. We make the same error when we ask God to change us, but put in little to no effort towards our side of the deal…

When we pray, “Lord, help me to control my temper!” yet allow ourselves to lash out at our family, we are not praying in faith.
When we pray, “Lord, help me to be generous!” yet keep our pocketbooks shut tight, we are not praying in faith.
When we pray, “Lord, help me to bring others to you!” yet don’t talk about God in public, we are not praying in faith.

As our James passage previously stated, we have a God who is liberal with His gifts. He longs to impart wisdom to us, but He will not impart so much as a drop to a double minded man, who will only waste the wisdom in his instability. Our prayers will produce no fruit when we are inactive, for an inactive life is a faithless life. Pray fervently for God’s intervention over your spiritual life. Believe wholeheartedly, but do not stop there. Look for the opportunities the Lord is presenting you with to put your request into action…

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does He give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does He give them opportunities to love each other? – “Evan Almighty” (2007)

Next time your request runs into a roadblock, ask yourself: Is my prayer in faith? 

The second question we are to ask of our prayers is…

---

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. – Psalm 37:4

Have you been praying for the right spouse to come into your life?
Do you ask God to bless you with that promotion you’ve been after?
Are you asking the Lord for an intervention with the enemy who makes your life difficult?
Are you getting only silence in return? 

If this is the case, then perhaps your request is running into a roadblock…a lack of favor.

Did you notice the important stipulation in our previous passage? “Delight thyself in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Note that this is a two-fold deal. First, you delight yourself in the Lord, then (and only then) will you be given the desires of your heart. Once you have aligned your will to the will of the Master, then your desires will be worth His favorable response. If your heart is steeped in sin, you can not possibly be delighting in the Lord, thus you can not possibly expect to receive the desires of your heart. IF we truly delight in the Lord, then of course He will give us of the desires of our heart – because our heart will be seeking only after those things which are of Him!

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. – Psalm 112:1

Want to be blessed? Find favor with the Lord. Want to find favor with the Lord? Delight in His commandments! Before we go hurling our requests towards the sky, let us make sure our attitude is such as this:

I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. – Psalm 119:58-60

For the parents out there, try to imagine this scenario…your child has been out of control off and on all day. They have disobeyed continually and been testing the limits (and your patience) from sunup to sundown. Every thing asked of them has been met with distasteful sighs and eye rolls. They have fought with their siblings, been moody and irritable, and downright disrespectful to Dad and Mom. Now imagine at the end of the day your child approaches you (all smiles and putting on the dog) and asks to be taken out for ice cream. Would you take them for this treat even though their bad behavior has not been truly repented of? I daresay a loving parent would do no such thing. Such an act would train the child to believe that misbehavior brings about no consequences, and that gifts of favor are unconditional. This poor kind of parenting raises entitled, self-centered, sinful adults! In much the same way, our Holy Father will not bestow gifts of favor on His unruly children, but rather will chastise them until their spirit is truly made right (Hebrews 12:5-8). Are you after a treat from the Lord, children of God? Seek His favor first and foremost, and then you may approach Father’s throne…with confidence that your request will be heard.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  – 1 John 5:14-15

Next time your request runs into a roadblock, ask yourself: Is my prayer in favor? 

The third question we are to ask of our prayers is…

---

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. – Galatians 6:7-8

Have you prayed for God to overlook that sin in your life that you just can’t seem to kick to the curb?
Are you requesting that the Lord miraculously allow your errant family member passage into Heaven?
Do you beg God to make an exception, just this once?
Are you getting only silence in return?

If this is the case, then perhaps your request is running into a roadblock…a lack of fate.

We’ve all heard it before: you reap what you sow. This is what my husband calls the Law of Harvest. Whatever you plant in this life will be the harvest that you collect later on…whether in this life or the next. This is the true definition of fate! What truths God has ordained (i.e: sin brings forth death, righteousness brings forth life) will never be swayed by human cries for the contrary. God will not be mocked! It is pointless to ask the Lord to change a law that He has already put in place…

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. – 1 John 5:16

My understanding of this verse is that one may in good conscience pray for an erring loved one to change their ways that they might be saved. However, one may never pray for God to overlook the sin and give the person a free pass. What is meant by “a sin not unto death” and “a sin unto death”? Does this mean some sins are worse than others and are unforgivable, but that we can ask God to overlook the little bitty, insignificant ones? No way. I have said it before and I will say it again: sins are not on a rating system. There are only two different kinds of sin: the one you will repent of, and the one you won’t. It is the latter that is the “sin unto death”. The sin unto death is any sin that you love…any sin that you will allow to drag you down into Hell with it. We all have sins that we wrestle with, but here’s the test on our spiritual condition: Do we continue in sin without trying to change? Or do we have the upright spirit of Paul who served the Law of God in his mind even though he often battled with his flesh (Romans 7:14-25)? If we are not in a battle…if we don’t try our hardest…if we just lay down and let sin reign over us…then we are sinning a sin unto death. If you or someone you know is living this unrepentant lifestyle, Heaven will never be your fate unless you change. No amount of praying will change the Law of Harvest. You will reap what you sow…please sow in righteousness, friends.

Next time your request runs into a roadblock, ask yourself: Is my prayer in fate? 

---

In conclusion…

We all may have times in our lives when it seems our prayers are getting nowhere. We might think “am I wasting my time with all this praying business?” when we do not receive an affirmative answer to our requests. Remember that prayer is not merely a platform to state all of our wants and needs to the “Spirit in the Sky” as some may view it. Rather, prayer is an amazing opportunity to grow closer to God and mold to HIS desires for our life. We must approach our prayer time with a heart to seek the Lord’s very best for us and others, which will sometimes be in direct opposition to what we originally thought best. Let us take on the spirit of humility that Jesus had, who said “not my will…but Thine” even during the most daunting of circumstances. Next time your request appears to be running into a roadblock, check your prayer through these three tests:

Is it in faith? Is it in favor? Is it in fate?

If the answer to all three is yes, then continue to beseech the Lord with patience for His perfect timing. If the answer is no, ask the Lord for acceptance, contentment, and even gratitude toward His holy will…and then practice these virtues with all diligence. Our Father truly knows best. Trust him!

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:17

For God’s Glory,
Mrs. Dustin Bolks

---

Mrs. Dustin Bolks is a church of Christ preacher’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, – act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;-

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

“A Psalm of Life”
What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Who am I?
What is my purpose?
When is this all going to make sense?
Where am I going with my life?
Why was I created?

These are the 5 W’s that humans have continually asked themselves from Adam’s generation, to Jesus’ generation, to Longfellow’s generation, to our generation. I suspect all of mankind will ask these, and similar questions, until the end of time as we know it.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow did an outstanding job of answering these age old questions. Time and space will not allow me to pick apart every passage of this poetic piece in great detail, but allow me to briefly summarize the heart of it:

– Wake up! There is a purpose to life on earth.
– This temporal existence is not all there is.
– Life is more than a meaningless series of ups and downs…we are made to grow and flourish through these.
– We are all going to die a physical death no matter how hard we try to escape it.
– Don’t go along with the worldly herd. Be a soldier for Christ!
– Don’t live in the past or future. Live in the here and now.
–  Let us take heart from the ones who have gone on before us and succeeded.
– No matter how hard life gets, let us use our trials to bring others to victory.
– Work hard and never give up…it will all be worth it in the end.

Friend, you may at times feel like you are just a drop in the ocean…small, insignificant, and unnoticed. Yet you are a vital part of God’s story…the one He has been unfolding since the dawn of creation. You have a mission…you just may not realize it yet.

Who are you?
What is your purpose?
When is this all going to make sense?
Where are you going with your life?
Why were you created?

You don’t have to guess the answers, and you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. Let us look to God’s word to unveil the three-fold Mission of Mankind.

---

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to…
Do justly.
(From Micah 6:8)

The first mission of mankind we will look into is the mission to Glorify God.

Glorifying God with our lives sounds great in theory, but how do we accomplish such a feat? What glorifies the Lord, anyway? In Micah 6:8, we discover that God is glorified when we “do justly“. This makes a lot of sense, because our God is a God of justice…

We find in Job 37:23 that the Lord has “justice in plenty“. Psalm 89:14 calls justice the “habitation of God’s throne“. Believe it or not, justice is even “more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice“, according to Proverbs 21:3.

Just as “God is love” (1 John 4:8), God is also justice. When we as God’s children do justly, we are acting in accordance with our Father’s image, which we were made to represent. Thus, God is glorified.

But…

What exactly is justice? How might one go about “doing justly“? When we think of the word justice, we might visualize a criminal being apprehended and locked behind bars. They have been “brought to justice” for the crimes they have committed. This is indeed one aspect of justice. Yet in a more complete sense, justice is godly equality. Justice is a righteous equation. Are you seeing a pattern here? Justice is moral mathematics…

A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work. – Proverbs 16:11

By contrast, “Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good. – Proverbs 20:23

As a teacher of mathematics, reading these well-known verses recently hit me anew like a ton of bricks. Weight? Balance? Why, those are mathematical terms! We all know that justice is when bad guys get bad things, and good guys get good things. This is easy to see in a practical sense. Yet how do we know these things are just? Because, with justice, just like with mathematics: one plus one will always equal two, and two plus two will always equal four. Justice is unchanging every bit as much as these sums are. We can know that a  criminal going to prison is just, because all we have to do is check the equation: Person + Crime = Punishment. If the sum is correct, then we know that the outcome is just.

Want to glorify God? You have to do justly. Want to do justly? You need to be a good math student. Want to be a good math student? You must master the skill of solving spiritual math problems.

Does our spiritual life add up with God’s word? Do we rightly divide the word of truth? Do we subtract sin from our life and multiply godly attributes?

Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. – Job 31:6

A just man or woman provides all things equal in the sight of God. A just person knows they can never deceive God into accepting faulty equations! Consider a math teacher asking their student to recite the sum of two plus two, and the student answers “three”. Will a learned teacher accept three as the appropriate answer? Of course not. The answer always has been, and always will be, four. The answer three is a false balance…it doesn’t add up. The student only has two options: change their answer to the answer that is true, or continue to be wrong. So it is with us as students of God’s word. We can accept that the sum of His word is truth (Psalm 119:60) and follow it obediently, or we can do things our own way…continuing to be the class dunce and ultimately failing. Which do you think will glorify God?

Glorify God and so fulfill the Mission of Mankind.

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. – Malachi 2:2

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee: for thy judgments are made manifest. – Revelation 15:4

---

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to…
Love mercy.
(From Micah 6:8)

The second mission of mankind we will look into is the mission to Edify others.

What does it mean to edify? Edification is the act of bettering another person…to improve their present state and encourage growth.

Edification is a primarily Christian attribute. I say this because it is not an altogether natural instinct to take interest in the betterment of others. It is natural to look out for yours truly, but it is only Christ’s spirit in us that compels us to look beyond ourselves to edify another! Our main text (Micah 6:8) says that the Lord requires us to “love mercy”. When we love mercy, we don’t want to see those we love being eternally punished for their sins…rather, we want to see them repent and turn their lives over to the Lord so He doesn’t have to take such measures. A Christian is not content to wash their hands of others with an apathetic “not my problem” sort of attitude. Lovers of mercy take the salvation of others seriously, and therefore place a high priority on edification.

Why should we love mercy? Well, just as we want to be just because God is just…we want to be merciful because God is merciful.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. – Psalm 103:8

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. – Luke 6:36

Another reason to love mercy is the fact that God has made it impossible to receive mercy unless we are willing to give mercy!

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful… – 2 Samuel 22:26a

The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. – Proverbs 11:17

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. – Matthew 5:7

Like I mentioned previously, we can show God’s mercy to others by edifying them. We show mercy when we gently speak the truth in love while correcting error…when we attempt to keep passive church members involved…when we engage in personal ministry…when we aren’t overly sensitive and choose instead to believe the best about our brethren. Lovers of mercy know that there’s more to life than simply looking out for yours truly…we have a responsibility to edify another guy!

Edify others and so fulfill the Mission of Mankind.

Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. – Romans 14:19

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. – Philippians 2:4

---

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to…
Walk humbly with thy God.
(From Micah 6:8)

The final mission of mankind we will look into is the mission to Sanctify ourselves.

Our text in Micah 6:8 goes on to say that we are to “walk humbly with our God”. What does it mean to walk humbly? To do something in a humble manner is to do it with an attitude of servitude/submission. When we walk humbly, we are in essence saying, “my position is lower than yours, Lord. YOU are the master, and I the slave”. It is sometimes said of a female who has given her virginity over to her husband, that she has been “humbled”. While this analogy may come across as crude, it’s not all that different from what should happen to us as the bride of Christ (in a symbolic sense, you understand). When we commit our life to Him, as a bride does to her husband, it is only fitting that we should be stripped bare and exposed to our “groom” who now owns the right to every bit of us. We become humbled the selfsame day that we give ourselves to Him, imperfections and all. Furthermore, as a husband should have the right to his wife on a daily basis, so should the Lord enjoy the right of us “walking humbly” with Him daily – a continual, ongoing act on our parts!

If we want to “walk humbly” with God, we have to sanctify ourselves. To sanctify something is to set it apart – to cleanse and purify it for a holy use. When a bride declares to her husband through the act of marriage, “I am yours and yours alone”, she is sanctifying herself for her man. She is giving a message to the world that she is not available, and that she will only be humbled by her husband. In a marriage, we sanctify ourselves with a wedding ceremony…in Christianity, we sanctify ourselves with a baptism.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. – Romans 6:3-5

Many reject the idea that one must do anything for their own sanctification. The world is saturated with denominations teaching that all one must do is believe to be saved, and God will take care of all the other details. This concept is simply not in alignment with God’s word! We are told to save ourselves (Acts 2:40)…and scripture tells us repeatedly how we are to do so. Salvation is a free gift, that much is true…but just as a bride may have an all-expenses-paid wedding ceremony, if she does not show up and follow through with the ceremony and each rite it entails, she is no bride at all…but remains a single woman. In like manner, a bride who does not consummate her marriage by giving her body over to her man is no wife…but an impostor. To be a true wife, first she must sanctify herself, and then she must continue to walk humbly (in a humbled fashion). Will our heavenly “groom” expect any less?

Sanctify yourself and so fulfill the Mission of Mankind.

Sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. – 2 Chronicles 29:5b

For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. – Hebrews 2:11

---

In conclusion…

What is the mission for mankind? It’s no mystery! With God’s word as our guide, we don’t even have to guess. On second thought, though, you might say that we do have to “G.E.S.” – for all of us are here on this earth with the mission to Glorify, Edify, and Sanctify. Are you with me?

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? – Micah 6:8

For God’s Glory,
Mrs. Dustin Bolks

---

Mrs. Dustin Bolks is a church of Christ preacher’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.