Hello ICC Family!
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Luke 2:19
I didn’t speak to this verse last Sunday during our Candlelight service, even though it was part of our passage. We come to this verse in the text after the shepherds find Jesus in the manger and then go off to tell everyone what they had seen and heard. Everyone was amazed at the shepherds’ testimony, and while it doesn’t say so at this time, I am sure Mary was as well. Several times in this passage we see people wondering and marveling about these amazing events, including Mary. But here and again in verse 51 we see that Mary is not just amazed in that moment, but that she is storing up these memories - treasuring them and guarding them. She is not letting them pass by unnoticed, instead she is fully engaged with these events - considering them… contemplating them - their meaning and significance. And she does this not just to brag about it to others, like some do on social media today. No, she seems to be creating a scrapbook of memories so she can treasure these things and ponder them for herself.
As we focused on joy last Sunday, I made the observation that we experience joy when we recognize how good things really are. Sometimes that takes time and reflection. However, when we are walking in the Spirit we can experience joy during those moments as well - keeping them, savoring them, and putting them away to remember and enjoy again later on, just like Mary does in this verse. And as we grow in wisdom, and in the depth of understanding of how much God loves us, then we can eventually learn to experience joy even in the difficult moments that come to us all at some point.
Satan wants us to miss God’s goodness and grace. He wants us to be too tired, or too sick, or too busy to see how much God loves us, or to see how God is working in our lives. He wants the Christmas season to zoom by without you taking any time to treasure or ponder what God is doing and how you can truly experience hope, peace, joy, and love in your lives. So, during this season… however you celebrate - whether by yourself or with a lot of people, whether enjoying a relaxing pace or zooming from event to event - make sure you treasure and ponder every verse, every thought, and every moment that points you to Christ, because each one of those little things bring joy. Each one can be the equivalent of a company of angels announcing, “Glory to God in the highest!”
Praying for all of you!
Pastor Aaron
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