24and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” [simple_tooltip content=’21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’](Luke 2:21-24)[/simple_tooltip]
The Old Testament passage being quoted above is from [simple_tooltip content=’6 ‘When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
7 Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female.
8 ‘And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”’]Leviticus 12:6-8[/simple_tooltip]. There the Lord commanded a lamb and either a young pigeon or turtledove as the prescribed sacrifices. If the woman was unable to offer a lamb, then two young pigeons or two turtledoves were acceptable. Mary would not have offered the lesser offering if it had been in her power to provide the lamb. This reveals that Joseph and Mary were not well off financially, yet the Lord chose them to be the earthly parents of His only begotten Son.
The Lord doesn’t choose the way man chooses. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart [simple_tooltip content=’But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”’](1 Sam. 16:7)[/simple_tooltip]. Mary and Joseph were chosen when they were without: without fame, without position, without money. God entrusted the most precious gift He had to a couple who would surely have been overlooked if the Sanhedrin had appointed a committee to conduct the search.
God isn’t looking for ability; He’s looking for availability. When D. L. Moody heard a preacher say, “The world has never seen what God can do with one man who is totally yielded to Him,” he thought, By the grace of God, I’ll be that man. This uneducated man went on to shake three continents for God —and you can too. If God chose two good yet ordinary people to bring His Son into the world, then it is certain He has great plans for you. Today, just make yourself available to Him. [simple_tooltip content=’26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,’](1 Cor. 1:26-28)[/simple_tooltip]
