We have a book at home called Jesus for Children by William Griffin. It is a beautifully written book, filled with stories from Jesus’ life, but there is one in particular that I think is especially good. It is the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to young Mary. Let me share just a brief portion of it:

Gabriel appears and Mary immediately leaps from her chair. “Stay where you are,” says the young girl, “or I’ll scream!”

“My name is Gabriel,” replies the tall, winged stranger.

“Are you an angel?” asks Mary.

“Yes, and I have a message for you. You are one of God’s favorites, and God wants you to know that.”

“Well, thank you for telling me. I didn’t realize that,” says Mary.

“God wants to ask you for a favor,” Gabriel continues. “God wants you to be the mother of a child—a very special child. This child will save all the people of the world. Will you do God this favor?”

“Well, I don’t know,” says Mary, “but it is nice of God to have asked.”

“God always asks,” replies Gabriel. “God prefers to invite, rather than insist.”

“Then in that case,” says Mary. “My answer is ‘Yes.’”

Now, obviously, this is not a word-for-word translation of the original Greek. However, it is the only version I’ve ever come across that really gets to the heart of this story—namely, that Mary had a choice. She could have said, “No.” God was not insisting that she go along with the plan … God was inviting her to be a part of it.

Of course, the same is true for each of us. Every Advent God asks us to prepare a place within our hearts for the Christ Child to be born. It is not something that is required of us … it is a request. Like Mary, we have a choice. We can say “No” and fill our hearts with other things. But that may mean that we miss out on the greatest Christmas present of all—not because God was unwilling to share, but because we were not available to receive.