“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to
them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Luke 2:51
Yesterday, our
pastor encouraged everyone in the congregation to spend this month reading one
chapter a day in the book of Luke, learning about the life of Jesus, and I have
decided to take him up on that suggestion.
There are 24 chapters and 24 days before we observe the day of Christ’s
first coming, and today I read chapters 1-3, and the verses above are the ones
I’d like to write about. I never noticed these before…buried within the story
of Jesus’s birth and life as a young boy, it is noted not just once, but twice,
that Mary, the mother of Jesus, treasured up all the things about her son and
pondered them in her heart. Mary is
considered blessed by the religious world today, even held up as a saint for
some. It notes in Luke chapter one verse 48 , which is part of Mary’s song to
the Lord, “…for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant, From
now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One had done great
things for me-holy is his name.” Mary
was blessed to be the mother of Jesus, there’s no doubt about that, but this
verse reveals to me the simple humanness of Mary. She was first and foremost a
wife and a mother, doesn’t matter whether he was the Savior of the world or
not, he was still her son, and she was still his mother. And she treasured him; she treasured his
accomplishments; she felt pride when he was obedient and humbled when he was
prophesied about at his birth. She loved him, not only because he was a special
blessing from God, as all children are, but because he was her baby. It’s hard to imagine, right? Jesus being a
baby who would grow up to die on the cross for all our sins, but that’s what
makes his sacrifice so poignant. He was
just like us…grew up just like us…was scolded by his parents when he stayed
behind at the church, and they thought they had lost him….was obedient and made
his parents proud. He was a boy who became a miraculous Savior. We all have the
potential to be like Jesus. We are all capable of miraculous things if we only
believe and allow God to work. As I
think about my own sons, I want for them to reach their potential, to strive to
be more like Jesus, but along the way, I don’t want to miss out on the
treasures. You never know how long God
has scripted your life to play out…you never know how much time you will have
with each of your loved ones or they with you, so I think it is important to
consider what Mary did with her memories of Jesus and apply them to our own
lives and families. Treasure those moments that are rare and special, treasure
the times with your children, close friends, and family, ponder the uniqueness
of their lives and what God has in store for them, pray for them, and encourage
them along the way. If we do t his, I think we’ll all find we have moved one
step closer to being like Jesus.
1 comment:
Beautifully expressed and so very true. -- Mom
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