The Power of Pondering

Last night, in our Midweek Service, I presented some thoughts based on Mary, the mother of Jesus.

On two different occasions, the Bible reveals Mary's contemplative nature. First, in Luke 2:19, we read that after the shepherds visited Jesus and spread the news about his birth, Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Second, when Jesus was 12 years old, he went with his family to Jerusalem. He amazed all of the Jewish teachers of the Hebrew Law. Inadvertently, the family departed without him. After discovering he was missing, the Mary and others rushed back to Jerusalem to find him. As any mother would, she scolded Jesus for raising their stress level. The Bible records in Luke 2:49-51:

Luke 2:49-51 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. 51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

Mary challenges us to do 3 things:

1. Contemplate the grace God has displayed in choosing to use regular folks for extraordinary tasks.
2. Contemplate the wonder of the coming of God in flesh.
3. Contemplate what God is teaching you through things that are confusing.

How do you utilize prayer in your daily life?
Do you praise God in your private life?
What “things” do you ponder?
Have you taken time to contemplate the grace of God in your life and in your church?

I pray you have a worshipful Christmas pondering the ways of God.