(1) _It was a transformation for Mary._ Her first word _separated_ her for Him Who loved her; her second word _transformed_ her into Him Who loved her. It made them for ever one. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." Here I am for Thee to do whatever Thou wilt with me. I put no obstacle in Thy way. _Fiat._ "Be it done to me according to Thy word." This word was not only the outcome and the proof of her perfect union with GOD, it was also the turning point of her life--and not only of her life but of the life of the whole world. Heaven--and earth too, though unconsciously--was waiting for this word of Mary's, a word which she could have withheld. The word was spoken, and by it she lent herself to GOD as His co-worker; by it she was transformed from a maid into a mother, and in that moment of transformation she saw all that it meant--she saw Calvary, and she said _Fiat_. "Be it done to me." She saw herself transformed into the image of Christ (2 Cor. iii. 18) by pain and suffering, and yet she would not withhold her _Fiat_. Why? Because she _loved_, and from that moment the transforming process was ever going on in her soul; and the flame of transforming love was ever burning more brightly, showing her the way to greater heights and deeper depths of the love of GOD, and so transforming her at each further step, that she shrank from nothing. (2) _It was a transformation for the world._ This word of Mary's, by which she gave her consent to GOD'S plan of Redemption, changed the face of the whole world. It began a new era--A.D. instead of B.C. It settled the moment of the arrival of the "fulness of time" (Gal. iv. 4)--of GOD'S time. As a result of it, GOD was already tabernacling among men. The leaven of the Gospel, which was to leaven the whole world, was already beginning to work. Mary's word produced a transformation in the world, and though it "knew Him not," it was never the same world again. (3) This word is a _transformation for the soul_ which makes it its own. Any soul which really says: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to Thy word," is transformed, for it is "made conformable to the image of His Son." (Rom. viii. 29.) Nothing but love has the power to bring about this transformation in the soul, for it means the effacement of self; it means a readiness to do GOD'S will at whatever cost; it means a holy indifference to one's own plans and theories and even judgment--it means what it says: "_Fiat_," for everything that GOD arranges. When this is so there is a complete transformation; the selfish soul becomes selfless; the weak, strong; the timid, courageous; the hesitating, decided; the doubting, confident; the agitated, peaceful and calm. Heaven has already begun in the soul. Love--GOD'S love for it first, and then its love for GOD--has transformed it.