Born Again!

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:34-35

The Immaculate Conception is rarely discussed. It is mind boggling on the one hand and perhaps even embarrassing on the other. In simple terms the Holy Spirit got Mary pregnant! That has never happened before or since. Mary was a virgin but she became pregnant by the power of God. Truthfully, Mary was the only human being who knew for sure that she was a virgin.

Now here is the paradox. The proof that a girl is not a virgin is that she is pregnant. Mary was pregnant and yet was a virgin. It did not make sense and most people, including Joseph for a time did not believe her. How could Mary explain the situation? Who would believe her?

The bottom line is that God sent Jesus Christ to the earth with a huge moral cloud hanging over His mother. There was no way on earth for Mary to “clear her name” with those people who knew her while she was pregnant with Jesus. It would be only if they came to know Jesus as Savior and Lord that they could see the evidence that Mary was innocent of any wrong doing.

Wasn’t God concerned about Mary’s reputation? Why would God choose to let the world see the mother of Jesus as a woman of ill repute?

Truthfully, God was not concerned about Mary’s reputation. He was concerned about Mary’s dedication to Him. What other people thought of Mary was of no importance to God. What God thought of Mary is the only thing that mattered. God rightly said that Mary would be “highly exalted” and ultimately she was.

God is not concerned about your reputation. The fact that anyone thinks that I am a “good man” is totally irrelevant to God. His concern is focused on my dedication to Him and my willingness to submit to His will. God may even ask me, as He did Mary to be obedient to Him in a way that will cause other people to believe that I am a man of “ill repute.” What difference does that make? It makes no difference at all.


Mary was willing to let Jesus Christ grow inside her body and be her first born Son. Are you willing to let Jesus grow inside your heart? The world may think you have done something wrong. But when you let Jesus grow in your heart He is not born again, you are!