Hello everyone!
Today (Monday, May 5, 2014), I had the opportunity to learn a lot about what was going on prior to and around Christ's birth. One of the things that struck me the most was our discussion of the two different reactions of Zacharias and Mary to the angel Gabriel. When Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, he did not believe. He questioned. He feared. He doubted. Mary, however, was faithful. She did not ask why; she did not question; she only asked what she should do.
I think we can all apply this to our lives. It made me think about how I would react to a visitation of an angel. Would I be as faithful as Mary? Probably not. Would I be more faithful than Zacharias? Hopefully.
It is even more amazing that Zacharias was very faithful and very old. Ideally, he would have had the time to grow close enough to God to trust Him and respond to the angel with faith; however, he did not. On the other hand, Mary was very, very young. We don't know how young, but it is entirely possible that she was anywhere from 13-17. An angel visited her and told her that she would be the mother of the Son of God, and at her very young age, she was able to move forward in faith.
I think that we often underestimate the spiritual abilities of young people. We are taught to have the faith of little children, but maybe we should be taught to have the faith of young teenagers. Just think of all the amazing things young people have done! Mary was extremely young; Christ was only 12 when he taught in the Temple; Nephi was a young man when he went to get the plates from Laban; Esther was a young woman when she saved her people; Joseph Smith was 14 years old when he was called to restore the Gospel; the Stripling Warriors were all young men who saved their entire people; David was about 12 when he defeated Goliath. The list goes on and on.
As a young person, what can I do to further the work of the Lord?
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