By John A. Huffman, Jr.
Take the example of Jesus. The God of the universe chose to flesh out His earthly ministry in the God-man who was done by age thirty-three, sixteen years younger than your pastor.
Young man, young woman, God wants to use you now. God will use you now as you are available to Him.
Second, a word to people who need and want to know more: God is willing to teach you.Whereas Zechariah wanted a sign to prove it was God talking, Mary simply wanted to know more. She knew that virgins didn't get pregnant. She wasn't going to doubt God's power to do this. She wasn't going to run away from whatever God wanted to do. She was open and available. She simply wanted to know how this would be since she was a virgin.
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Her questions were answered. They were answered by Gabriel's explanation. They were answered by Gabriel's putting her in touch with her relative Elizabeth. Her questions were answered by her previous and future study of the Old Testament Scriptures.
Some of us muddle along in life not knowing a whole lot about God and the way God does business with us. Every so often I run into a young person who simply refuses to study. He may major in athletics. She may concentrate on her social life. The notion of doing homework, of staying awake in class, preparing for exams, is so foreign to this kind of person. How sad it is to observe the high school dropout. It is one thing when a person simply does not have the capabilities to do the work. It is another thing when that person really has the intelligence but somehow does not have the motivation.
You can make a direct parallel to the Christian life. There are some people who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they simply leave it at that. They are not claiming the promises of God's Word because they don't know the promises. They are confused by every "wind of doctrine" that blows around them. They don't know the difference between historic Christianity and some Christian cult or some anti-Christian religion or philosophy.
The Bible is a closed Book. They seldom expose themselves to preaching and even less seldom expose themselves to adult education. This person is a professing believer -- but there is not much professional about that. Just as there wouldn't be much professional about a doctor who never went to medical school or who did but didn't continue to keep up-to-date in that profession.
Mary was a young person who was a student of the Word. She knew the Old Testament Scriptures. Her life was not marked by biblical ignorance. In the presence of her relative, Elizabeth, she broke forth into a psalm that incorporated some of the thoughts of a woman named Hannah over a thousand years before. You can read it in
1 Samuel 2:1-10. This was at the time that Hannah gave birth to the Prophet Samuel.
Be teachable. God is willing to instruct you.
Third, a word to ultra-conservative people: God has a radical understanding of the gospel.