something to treasure
photo credit: Studio-Annika
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)
I have always loved the scripture above. Mary, Jesus’s mother treasured up…all these things…and pondered them in her heart. I think many, or most moms anyway, treasure things their children do, but what was so unique about the few times that scripture mentions this specifically of Mary ? I would imagine her life would have been filled with so many moments of awe and wonder.
What does it mean that she treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart?
From, crosswalk.com what-does-it-mean-that-jesus-mother-treasured-up-all-these-things-in-her-heart
The Greek word for “treasured,” synetērei, also means “kept safe.” With synetērei, we see Mary protecting Immanuel; she realizes He is in danger which is confirmed in Joseph’s dream (Luke 2:13) after the Magi leave.
[King Herod feared the rumor of a new king. He feared baby Jesus, so he ordered the murder of all the infants in Bethlehem in an attempt to make sure baby Jesus was killed.]
“Then he [Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them [His parents]. But his mother [Mary] treasured all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)
This comes from another memory of Mary’s when she and her family were traveling home after a trip to Jerusalem. They could not find Jesus and lost three days looking for him. Eventually, Jesus was located in the synagogue—His Father’s House as Jesus called it—learning and [talking] with the teachers.
“Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:47) Mary “treasured” this memory even though she had been distraught at the time.
“Dietērei” is used here; the memory was one Mary kept to herself.
Mary kept this memory close, [she] valued it. (crosswalk.com)
I don’t think I would be out of line in saying that 2020 and 2021 have been hands down the most uncomfortable, strange, shocking, confusing, frustrating, anger filled, opinionated, revealing, unbelievable, somewhat scary years, and the adjectives could go on and on because these last two years have been like none other I have ever experienced.
photo credit: Uday Mittal @mittaluday
I thought my friend recently tied it all together somewhat well by saying, perhaps the word that sums up the past two years best is, disappointing.
Webster’s says disappointment is:
“1 : unhappiness from the failure of something hoped for or expected to happen.
2 : someone or something that fails to satisfy hopes or expectations.”
Yes, that is a great way to describe how I felt about 2020. I was disappointed.
Disappointed in people I thought I knew and expected more from, who showed their very dark sides/hearts on social media.
Disappointed in our government, and many people of this world who I thought were leaders who have failed miserably to lead.
THE MEDIA!! What a HUGE disappointment. I had hoped maybe they would try would pull us together since the man they hated so much was out of office, but instead they just continue to create more and more divisiveness.
Musicians and athletes, famous people who should have used their platforms to bring unity instead have stirred the pot, ministers who did not lead with faith but rather fear, and on and on.
More importantly, I was disappointed in myself. I allowed myself to be sucked into so much unnecessary drama that did not even really relate an iota to my personal life, and I wasted an incredible amount of precious time and energy reading the BS being vomited all over, half the time by people I do not even know!
So, while I was more than happy to see 2020 end, and welcome in 2021. I knew, I was going to have to take ownership of making that mental shift to seeking truth in order to find hope and hold onto that hope in order to live in the light, because the world shifted so massively in 2020, and I wasn’t and still am not sure it will ever be the same again.
Perhaps that isn’t a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t remain where it is now either.
From, the guardian.com, Two-thirds of US believers see Covid-19 as a message from God, the poll finds 31% feel strongly that God is telling humanity to change…The poll found that an additional 31% of Americans feel that is somewhat true.
Personally, as far as the statement above goes, I don’t really know if 2020 was a wakeup call from God or not, but I will say it definitely provided an opportunity for me to step back and reset a few things in my life.
As 2020 ended, I couldn’t stop thinking, what can I take from all of this that will change my life and feed my hunger for something more, something to find hope in and to look forward to, especially if we have another year like 2020?
photo credit: Sixteen Miles Out @sixteenmilesout
I remember as I searched for, and purchased, more and more self-help books, I just kept hearing that small voice saying, “get in My word.” Get. In. My. Word. Over and over like a broken record, I felt God putting that message in my heart.
Relenting, I decided at the end of 2020, that I really needed to make sure my foundation was solid. How can I confess to believe so much in scripture when I have never read the entire Bible? I have read a lot of it. Studied a lot of it, but not once have I ever read the entire Bible.
I decided right then that I do not want to get to heaven one day, face Jesus and say, ya know, I read a ton of self-help books, especially in that tough year of 2020, but the full Bible? No. Not really a priority. It wasn’t broken down into 20 easy steps to being happy or feeling joy, or finding peace, and way too much lineage information, and all the rules and judgements? No thank you.
So, at the end of 2020, I decided I was going to read the entire Bible in chronological order, because I like order and structure. Today, I am thrilled to report, that I have done just that. The end of December 2021, I will have completed my first time through the entire Bible, and if my foundation was not secure before, it is rock solid now!
That does not mean I am all set to be perfect, and will never have another doubt, or mess up ever again. I am simply saying that I see a better path that I want for my life, and I better understand the cornerstone my faith is built upon now.
Between reading the Bible through and watching The Chosen, which I highly recommend, my perspective in 2021 has been changed and challenged FOREVER. My friends and readers, God LOVES YOU/US! He really, really does, and His patience for us is beyond anything I can comprehend!
You cannot possibly read through the entire Bible without seeing God’s continual efforts to connect with us, to save us from our miserable selves, and fill our hearts and lives with security, peace, joy, and love. God does not want a single one of us to be left behind, and His “rules” are truly for our good, not to suck the fun out of life here on earth.
Yes, it is true. There was/is A LOT of bloodshed, and wars, and unfair things, but reading through scripture and watching The Chosen, you cannot help but see, it is man that creates the pain and the mess. Over and over God made a way for people in the old testament to be close to Him, but we are a self-centered people. Over and over, we choose to serve ourselves, which is why in the end, Jesus was sent to us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16)
“…the God who made the world, who became human as Jesus of Nazareth, is not sitting upstairs somewhere, looking down and saying, “Okay, I’ll sort out your mess.”
Rather, he’s the God who comes and gets his hands dirty and gets his hands pierced in order to be where we are and to rescue us from there. It’s profoundly comforting to know that when I am grieving, as Paul says in Romans 8, Jesus is grieving with me, and the Holy Spirit is grieving within me. And this is one of the things that marks out the Christian faith as distinct from pretty well any other worldview that I know.” ~ NT Wright
Getting in The word, seeing the history of a Holy God’s efforts to connect with humankind, and His ability to connect personally with us, and relating it to our world today has given me FIVE solid reasons for having hope in 2022.
Our God has not stopped working. God used trials throughout history to wake a generation of people from their slumber, their idolatrous lives, and their self-serving ways. He is always trying to find ways to reconnect when we reject. Because of COVID, lives are being changed. Families have reprioritized what is important, and many have changed jobs or career paths to have more time with family. Parents eyes have been opened to what their children are or are not learning and they are taking some of that ownership upon themselves to step up and step in. What is happening in our world is removing the scales from the eyes of the blind. What we do with that is up to each of us.
photo credit: Jasper Boer @jasperboer
2. God never changes. Reading through the whole Bible I am reminded over and over again how God does not move. WE move from God. When we live our lives in a way that we know is not right, we move from Him. Over the last several years leading to 2020, life was pretty darn good. In fact, so good we didn’t have time for church or fellowship, to read the Bible or serve. Well, serve others. We certainly made time to serve our idols, career, family, children, money, fame…God is still here in 2020, 2021, and He will be here in 2022. He will still be there offering us the same grace and mercy and peace He has offered through the generations. The question is, will we move back towards Him, or will we keep seeking answers in the next self-help book, horoscope, or wherever else we seek truth outside of God?
photo credit: Zoltan Tasi @zoltantasi
3. God used the weak throughout history, and He still uses the weak today. God is getting great things done through little people, even in the past two years. While our media spews endless trash about useless information regarding big names doing “big things,” in the trenches, God is getting life-changing things done for His kingdom. To read about great things done through World Vision, Read 11-reasons-hope-2021, or read about more through partners international.
photo credit: Zac Durant @zacdurant
4. God is close to the hurting. His mercy is as far as the east is from the west. I do not love and serve a dead God. I love and serve a living God. This means that He understands what we feel. He knows our hurts, our struggles, our pain, our sin, and our shame.
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will be troth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” (Hosea 2: 14, 19, 20)
“Here, even though Israel has turned their back on God and chosen to love other gods more than Him, He has mercy on them. He brings them into the wilderness (place of hardship) so that He can speak tenderly to them, and then he makes a covenant with them (unbreakable vow to Israel not on what they can do for Him, but what He will do for them) that He will betroth them to Him forever in all things good (righteousness, justice, steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness). AND he will be near to them, he will have a close & intimate relationship with them.” -(Morgan McClellan)
5. With God, NOTHING is a SURPRISE, and NOTHING is WASTED! God cannot be surprised! He is the Alpha and Omega (beginning and the end). He is the creator of the universe. Nothing ever surprises Him!! I find tremendous comfort in knowing this truth. Since nothing can surprise God, all his promises are trustworthy. None of them were given without knowing all the ramifications and consequences. This is a surprisingly simple but critically important point. Whatever you are going through now is not a surprise to God. He’s got this. Our experiences in one season, prepare, and set us apart for the next season of life. God’s word is filled with examples of people who left the comfort and familiarity of the jobs they knew, in order to pursue the calling of a new season. Jesus’ disciples—Andrew, Peter, James and John—all worked as fishermen prior to accepting Jesus’ invitation to a new life of following him. Jesus' intentionality in beckoning these men to specifically become “fishers of men” suggests that even though they would leave much behind to follow him, their years as fishermen were not wasted.
photo credit: joshua Earle @joshuaearle
Most important, is the growth that occurs as we follow Christ from one calling on to the next. Like the disciples who were called to bear fruit in a new way for the glory of God, we can be confident that God can use every past season to produce fruit for our present and future journey.
Yes, 2021 has been a year of reading scripture, spending time in God’s word, hearing Him speak to my heart through the various authors, and learning just how deep and wide His love truly is for us.
Now I treasure all these things and ponder them in my heart. While my reason is not as Mary’s, my reason runs to the core of my being, because when I see Jesus, I see a child in a manger, and a young man teaching in the temple, a young man who changed the world forever, and an innocent man betrayed, who bore my sins, was ridiculed, beaten, died a humiliating and painful death, but overcame the grave, for me.
Knowing what I know, how could I not [synetērei], or keep safe in my heart, all that I know about Jesus and his goodness…
Follow the star to a place unexpected Would you believe after all we've projected
A child in a manger?
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother's shawl
Just a child, is this who we've waited for?
'Cause how many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart? How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior
All that we have, whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for His honor and frankincense for His pleasure
And myrrh for the cross He'll suffer Do you believe? Is this who we've waited for? (Is this who we've waited for?)
How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me
All for me,
( How many kings)
Interesting material:
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/plans-for-2021-and-beyond
