” And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour ” (Luke 1:46-47)
Are you magnifying God? What do you think of when someone mentions a magnifying glass? You might think of it as a tool used to investigate small things. When you put a magnifying glass up to a grain of sand, the details of the sand grain emerge. You can count the spots on a ladybug’s wings when you look at her body with a magnifying glass. Magnifying glasses work in two directions, however. Has anyone ever held a magnifying glass as if to look at your nose? What do you see? It’s not just that they see all the details of your nose, but you see all the details of their eyeball as well! In this same way, the magnifying glass is not just a tool for the user, but a window into the user himself.
As we come to our scripture, we see that Mary, Jesus’ mother, tells us that her soul was magnifying the Lord. ” And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour ” (Luke 1:46-47). Thus, Mary is stating that her soul acts like a magnifying glass, showing others the Lord. Are your soul, your life and your actions magnifying the Lord?
Commands to Magnify God
” I will bless the LORD at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together “(Psalms 34:1-3). To magnify something is to cause it to be held in greater esteem or respect, to increase its significance, or to physically enlarge it in fact or in appearance (Merriam-Webster). David here extols us to magnify God by boasting in Him, continually praising Him, and exalting His name. In this case, to magnify is to praise.
” Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified , which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long ” (Psalms 35:27-28). In this case, to magnify God is to speak of His righteousness and goodness all day.
Paul understood magnifying God when he wrote to the Philippians, ” According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death ” (Philippians 1:20). Paul wrote to the Philippians, as an example to us, that what he earnestly desired was that whatever he did in this life, Christ would be magnified. What a hope! What a goal for us all to share!
Magnification 101
So, how are we to magnify God? What must we do so that Christ is not just displayed in our lives, but that His presence is made to display as larger than life?
John the Baptist, as the one who came before the Lord, sought not only to show others Christ, but also to show that Christ was much greater than he. ” He must increase, but I must decrease ” (John 3:30). John the Baptist lived His life in such a way that all He did pointed to Christ and also displayed the amazing power of Christ. John the Baptist “decreased ” himself, that he might ” increase ” the reflection of Christ in his life.
Jesus Himself displayed this in the Garden before His death when He prayed, ” Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done (Luke 22:45). True humility understands that God’s will is better than ours and that to magnify Him in our lives we must submit to His will. We cannot magnify Christ in our lives without placing Him as head of our lives.
We also cannot magnify Christ without praising Him. ” By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name ” (Hebrews 13:15). If praises to God are continually upon our lips, He will be magnified in our lives. Praise Him for all things, great and small!
Christ is magnified by our obedience to the laws of Christ, by which we show that we believe that His ways are best. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ” (Matthew 5:16). God is glorified and magnified when we live holy lives, lives set apart from the world. Christ is magnified when His transforming power is displayed in your life. ” Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new ” (II Corinthians 5:17). Show others that you are not the same person that you were before you met Christ and Christ will be magnified.
Show Others Your Heart Christ dwells in the hearts of all those who believe in Him. Take every opportunity that you can to show others the change in your heart and the new heart that Christ has created. If you do so, soon you will be able to say, ” My soul doth magnify the Lord “.