Treasures Of Heart And Mind
Here is our text, a most familiar and well-known verse of Scripture. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2: 19
Are we given a place in this? Is there any significance or relevance for us? Can “these things” that Mary experienced, things which she treasured up and pondered in her heart, be of any practical use to us? O yes! Indeed so! There is much, and we ask our Heavenly Father to make us true learners of His, ‘Given, Born Word’ and real bearers of His, ‘Given, Borne Fruit.’ We must believe and accept, in faith, that God has given birth to His precious Word in us, and that fruit will be had, from it.
For example, a word of promise, planted in our hearts and minds, which has been given exposure, will bear good fruit, God’s fruit, as by faith we live that promise. Recently, in speaking with a cousin who lives in another island, I heard her tell of the undoubtable faithfulness of God to meet her pressing needs. In her widowhood, God had promised to take care of her, so that worry would not have to be her constant companion.
I listened as she told me with easy and heart-felt gratitude, how God was never not present to show, in tangible ways, His Living Word of Promise, every single time she had huge bills to pay. I listened and all I know is that because she spoke out those things, so that I, and no doubt others could hear, the Living Faithfulness our God was given spread. I can personally attest that receiving and believing all that she spoke about Father God, I treasured and pondered up every word I heard. I know that in the stillness of my heart and mind, I did not just give God thanks for being faithful to my cousin, but I sought His forgiveness for doubting His promises to me. I saw how very unbelieving I was in so many things and asked for His grace to die to all doubts, worry, anxiety and simply rely solely on His promises, come what may.
Turn to Mary then, and know that you and I are like her. Yes, male or female, we are to be like Mary, whose fruit has been released into the world in tangible form. I, like you, am sure that all the events leading up to this heaven-sent birth, and even beyond, have become her precious treasures, which she stored up in her heart.
Let’s begin to zero in on some of these treasures as she and her husband Joseph, welcome their Son’s first visitors. Already noted is the fact that it is not unusual, uncommon and unexpected that friends and family come to visit new born additions to the family, even while he or she is in hospital, or wherever birth has taken place, before the mother comes home. With Mary, however, there is a tinge of the mysterious, as her Baby Boy’s first earthly visitors are not the usually expected. That shepherds were the first visitors, is not what causes us to think with mystery and wonder. Shepherds are earthly people and one can have friends and family who are shepherds, but is this the case here?
Let’s think about it for a minute, because it is real, not fake or any kind of make-up. Have you ever thought about this fact? Father God chose strangers, to be the first earthly visitors to go and visit the Baby Jesus. What does this do for you? Doesn’t it cause you to ponder, and ponder deeply at that, when you think of the birth of His Word in you?
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