Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Ryan League Podcast. Merry Christmas, my friends. It's Christmas this week, and so we've been doing just a couple of different holiday episodes. And if you are new to the Ryan League Podcast, we always do some pretty short and sweet podcasts that we just like to give you just a little nugget of inspiration that we believe can add value to your life. And I believe that today's episode is not just going to add value to your life. I think it's going to add value to your holiday season. There is something about Christmas that just hits different. I don't know, maybe for you it's the eggnog or maybe for you it's all about the ugly Christmas sweaters. And you look forward to wearing some knitted sweaters that somehow make you itch for six hours, but you just decide that it's a party, so let's get it started. Maybe for you, you are all in on the Christmas decor. I've talked to several husbands that I will not mention by name on this podcast that have stated to me emphatically that every year their Christmas decor budget somehow continues to go up. They thought they put all of those decorations in the attic and that they would simply be reused somehow. They continue to get upgraded. Maybe for you, the Christmas season is about the movies. It's the Grinch. It's watching, you know, for the 20th time, a green creature whose heart grows three sizes in one day, and you just want to watch that over and over and over again. For some people, the Christmas season is all about the music, And there are just some jingles that get so stuck in your head that you're humming them down the street in meetings at the gym and everywhere you go. Whatever your Christmas tradition is, religious or not, every single one of us has to admit the whole world slows down for this season. There's something sacred in the air, something warm, something nostalgic. And no matter what you believe, there's something we all cannot deny. 2,000 years ago, a man showed up on this planet whose life changed history. and you don't have to be a Christian to acknowledge that his arrival kicked off a ripple effect that we still talking about and somehow celebrating to this very day His influence Jesus Christ has reshaped culture, ethics, education, compassion, civil rights, art, the list goes on and on. And every December, the world, somehow, someway, hits pause to commemorate his birth. But before there were lights, before there were jingles, before there were ugly Christmas sweaters or peppermint shakes, there was a teenage girl named Mary. Today's episode is called There's Something About Mary. Yeah, there is something about Mary. And listen, I'm not talking about the movie. I'm talking about the Mary, the one who stepped into a story. She could have never written for herself, but she said yes to it anyways. If you have ever felt underqualified or unprepared or like life is happening too fast for you to keep up, Mary is your girl. Okay. Because I think sometimes we forget this. But the Christmas story took place in a real world with real pressures. Mary was a Jewish teenager in the first century, and they were living under Roman occupation, which means that the land that she was in, it was no longer theirs, didn't belong to them anymore. under Roman rule. And so her people had been waiting generations for God to send a rescuer, a Messiah. They expected someone royal, someone powerful, someone with a resume. Let me tell you what they did not expect. They did not expect a teenage girl from a tiny town. No one respected. it. Nazareth was the kind of place that inspired the biblical version of, can anything good come from there? Like literally in scripture, if you're not a Jesus person, you're not a Bible person, let me just tell you, at one point in the gospels, someone heard that Jesus was from Nazareth. And they said, can anything good come from Nazareth? If Nazareth had Yelp reviews, it would have two stars And one of them would be out of pity That where Jesus came from That where Mary is growing up And yet Mary she grows up in Nazareth hearing stories of strong women in Jewish history She would have grown up hearing stories about Deborah, Miriam, Hannah. She would have known that God had a pattern of choosing the unlikely. So when an angel interrupts her ordinary day and tells her she's been chosen to bring the Messiah into the world, she's startled, but she's not disconnected from the God behind the story. And I think that's the part that most people miss. Mary was young, but she wasn't spiritually empty. She didn't have the status, but she certainly had the formation. She didn't have the experience, but make no mistake about it, She had the faith. My friends, there's something about Mary, and it's not perfection. It's not power. It's that she said yes. One morning, the mother of Jesus wakes up thinking it's just another day of chores and perhaps preparation for marriage to a guy named Joseph. But then destiny shows up uninvited, unexpected, and overwhelming. And then Mary, she says words to an angel that literally change the course of history for humanity. She said these words, let it be to me according to your word. let it be to me according to your word. That's it. That's the whole thing. She said yes. She didn't ask for the full plan. She didn't negotiate terms. She didn't say, hey, can we talk after the holidays? My calendar is just crazy right now. What she did is she simply trusted, let it be to me according to your word and i know we read her story surrounded by candles sweaters and reruns of the grinch but in in real life this was complicated in real life this was scary in real life this could have cost her her reputation in real life it could have cost her relationships. But nevertheless, in real life, a teenage girl said yes. And her yes changed the world So whether you consider yourself a Christian or not Christmas Christ is bigger than a holiday It a reminder of a moment in history where a young woman accepted an assignment that didn make sense on paper A moment when courage intersected with calling. A moment when someone trusted God enough to participate in something beyond her understanding. My friends, Jesus said yes. Mary said yes. And because they did, we have Christmas. Now, let's talk about you. Is there anything in your life that you just have this sense that you're supposed to be doing more? like when destiny knocks on your door what is your response what's the idea that won't leave you alone what's the opportunity you perhaps keep pushing away because you're just not sure if you're ready what's the thing that dare I say God might be nudging you toward even if you're not totally sure it's him. Because here's what I can tell you. Destiny doesn't always show up flashing lights or Christmas jingles playing in the background. Sometimes destiny whispers. Sometimes it asks you to stretch. Sometimes it calls you into something unfamiliar. But what if your yes could open up a future you haven't even imagined yet. Mary did not know the ripple effect of her yes. And you may not know the ripple effect of yours either, but that doesn't make it any less real. So as you sip your eggnog and sit around the tree and open up gifts and put on matching pajamas perhaps an itchy sweater, or watch all of the Home Alones, I want you to take a second and think about this. What could God do with your yes? What could God do with your yes? My friends, I just wanted to take a moment and wish you a Merry Christmas, but I also wanted to encourage you to step into your destiny. Why? Because Jesus did. Mary did. And because they did, we get to celebrate Christmas this week. And who knows what could be possible if you said yes to God.
