The Gift of Reflection (Day 13)
….and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Luke 2:51b
The older I get, the more I value time I spend with my two brothers and sister. We have fun together. We like a lot of the same activities, especially making music together. But the one thing that usually happens is remembering cherished events of our past. Our parents have now left this earthy journey but they live on in our lives every time we re-live a story. We laugh as we re-tell the band trips of high school. We’re instantly transported back to our college days as we re-live those years. We even cry when we think about the sad times.
What a gift,…… that God designed us to be able to reflect and remember. I love thinking about the verse above. What a whirlwind for Mary, Jesus’ mother. The scripture records that she “treasured up all these things in her heart.” Do you see it? It says these memories are like treasures. How so? What were they?
The visit of the angel Gabriel, the incredible message that the Divine was going to become flesh and she would be his mother! A hard journey to Bethlehem, Angels again, a whole host of them, shepherds coming and later Kings from a foreign land. And don’t forget the prophesies. First from Gabriel, then her relative Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and gives her an incredible word. If that were not enough, they take Jesus to the temple to be dedicated only to have Simeon declare that he has now “seen the Lord’s Christ” then the prophetess Anna comes up and proclaims that Mary’s child is the “salvation of Jerusalem”! How many times in her life did Mary turn these over in her heart? How did they sustain her, give her joy, give her purpose?
God has given you an incredible gift, the gift of reflection. Do you take the time to ponder in your heart God’s promises to you? Do you “make room” in your life to think on what He has done for you? Do you reflect on the paths he has taken you? Through the Word and the Spirit, this reflection can bring revelation. What a gift.
This Advent, let me encourage you to take a scripture and ponder it in your heart. Let God reveal himself to you as you treasure his word. You just might find your best gift of the season.