Mary Did You Know – 12 Days of Christmas Carols

“So many Christmas songs…so little time!”

#6 Mary Did You Know

Every child has potential and purpose – trust God with their outcome!

I once had a young man to enter my beginning choir class as a freshman in high school with no musical experience. Choir wasn’t his first choice – it was the only elective that left him available for weightlifting and football – but he was willing to give singing a try.

He was a respectful and lighthearted kid, but he could not sing at all! I would give him a pitch and he would sing one or two tones above or below.

He would laugh it off and sing out until he thought he was close. His laughter and his unwillingness to “lip-sync” when I would jokingly tell him to, kept me trying to help him.

By his senior year, he was one of my best singers and the bass section leader!

He went on to get a football AND a music scholarship that took him several states away from home. One winter concert, he came home and demonstrated his piano skills for me! He had never touched the piano in the 4 years he sat in my room, yet there he was, playing better than me! I was elated!

I’m glad neither of us gave up on his potential.

“Mary Did You Know” addresses Mary, the mother of Jesus, and asks her did she know the potential of the child she delivered. It is a series of questions written by Mark Lowry in 1984 and set to music by Buddy Greene in 1991. The song has since been recorded by hundreds of artists from various genres and has topped Christian, R&B, Country, and Holiday Charts.

Like every song, it has its critics. Some have criticized the song’s lack of scriptural or theological depth. Some have even said it is a sexist song because it speaks to Mary as if she were clueless. Those arguments stem from the idea that you would not ask Abraham if he knew he would be the father of a great nation or Moses if he knew he would be able to lead the Israelites from Egypt.

To settle those arguments, the answer is YES – she knew the promise of the child she held because she was told by God’s messenger angel, Gabriel! Even though she knew, one cannot help but imagine the awe and wonder she felt as she held Jesus in her arms.

She knew the promise and potential of her child and she trusted God with the outcome!

There is no other Jesus; however, each child is born with a promise and with potential. They are trusted in our care, and God knows each and every one of them by name. Trust God with their outcome and, in the meantime, love every one of them like the child of God that they are.

Here are a few of my favorite recordings of “Mary Did You Know”. Which one is your favorite?

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

CEELO GREEN – I always have to stop what I am doing and pay attention to every turn of this version!