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“For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:44 

The best part of my day is often picking up my daughter Elin from her pre-school. She gets walked out of the building and the second she lays eyes on me she cries out, “DAD!!!!!” Most days she runs right towards me, leaping for joy as I pick her up and give her a big squeeze.  If every person was greeted with that kind of exuberance at least once a day, I think our world would be a better place. 

Maybe you can relate.  Maybe there’s someone in your life that makes you leap for joy (okay, not all of us can literally leap for joy … but maybe your heart leaps a little bit!). It could be a longtime friend or relative or spouse, but if there’s not a specific person that comes to mind, then trust me when I say, that God feels that way about you.   

God leaps for joy over your presence. 

Our story on Sunday features a reunion of sorts.  Mary bumps into Elizabeth. And these two pregnant women form an instant connection.  In fact, Elizabeth says upon seeing Mary, “For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” 

That child of course, was John the Baptist, who presumably knew that Mary was carrying Jesus.  How the yet-to-be-born baby knew this is beyond me (perhaps it was just Elizabeth’s interpretation, or just a literary flourish by Luke!), but what’s clear is that there is a connection not only between John and Jesus, but between Mary and Elizbeth as well. 

Whatever it is, I think it’s fair to say that Elizabeth (maybe John too!) saw God in Mary, and I’d like to presume that Mary saw God in her cousin Elizabeth too.

Because that’s what God created us for: connection.  God makes us all to leap for joy over the people that we love and have connections with, because that is God’s character as well.  Because God leaps for joy every time he encounters you as well, whether it’s through prayer, worship or some other mysterious way.