Snap shots of days gone by and then just like that they are married and raising kids of their own, making Kevin and I LaLa and Pop Pop. It’s hard letting go and letting them spread their wings and fly. I remember the day I dropped each of them off at college dorm rooms and said good-bye. I watched in my rear view mirror until they disappeared. The lump in my throat choked out any words. I couldn’t go into their bedrooms for months after sending them off into the next phase of adulthood.
I wonder? Did Mary have the same lump in her throat the day she watched her son, the Son of God, walk off into His calling? Did memories of His childhood flood her thoughts at random moments of her day? She knew this day would one day come. All mother’s do. The baby bird must fly the coup and become the eagle it was meant to be. All that doesn’t make letting go any easier. I told my daughter I think I worried less about you kids when you were living at home underneath my roof. Your problems seemed easier to solve back then. Now y’all are big boys and girls with big boys and girls trials.
And now the day had come for Mary to let go and let her Son become the Savior of the world for all the ages to come. How’s that for a job description? Simeon once told Mary concerning Jesus, “A sword will pierce your own soul.” I’m glad God didn’t choose me to be Jesus’ mother. I don’t think I could have let Him go, thus, I wasn’t chosen.
The day Jesus left His childhood home, He walked straight to the Jordan River to be baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist. Two very different men with two very different callings. One was Israel’s Messiah, the other was called to prepare the way for the Messiah. They were an odd couple to be sure, but each had a God-appointed race to run and they ran their specific races to the glory of God.
God has called each of us to run His amazing race. He doesn’t call us to run every race. Those who are meant to run the sprints, God empowers to run sprints. Others are called to run relays and others marathons. We have but one race, and all God requires is to run it well and cross the finish line. Our specific race may not seem glamorous and it might not even be the one we’ve dreamed of winning, but when we cross the final finish line we will hear the word, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Waypoints to your destination:
According to John 1, what was John doing the day Jesus came to be baptized?
How did John describe Jesus as Jesus walked toward him?
What was John’s attitude when Jesus told John to baptize Him?
What did God say as Jesus rose from the waters?