A “Pondering” Christmas

Let’s begin by reading the following verses from Luke chapter 2: 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.  For me today, the key word in this passage is the word “pondered”.  The Bible says that Mary “pondered” all these things in her heart.  We don’t use the word “pondered” very much in today’s vocabulary.  The word has the idea of “deep reflection”.   I think that during contemporary Christmas-time, we should all take some time to “ponder”.  There’s not a lot of “pondering” going on as we run from store to store, party to party, doing the things of Christmas.  I like parties and I even sort of like shopping, but I want to make sure that I take time to reflect on what the birth of Jesus really means.

What was Mary “pondering”?  We don’t know for sure but I’m sure she was mulling many things over in her head and in her heart.  She had this amazing prophecy from an angel yet she had given birth in a manger.  She was told by Elizabeth that her baby would be “Lord” but what did that really mean?  She was just visited by shepherds who told of an angel appearing to them regarding her baby.  She could not have possibly understood everything that was going on but I’m sure that her pondering led her to an even greater appreciation of God and what He was doing in her life.  Let’s make sure we spend some time “pondering” this coming week, thinking about Who God is and all that He has done for us.