Each year during the Christmas season, I like to reflect on what it must have been like to experience the birth of Jesus. Can you imagine what Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have thought and felt during that time?
Imagine you’re a young woman about to be married when suddenly an angel appears to you and tells you you’ll give birth to the savior of the world! Even though you’ve never been with a man, you miraculously give birth to a baby boy. Then, total strangers somehow find their way to you to worship the child.
I’m sure all of these events didn’t completely make sense to Mary; yet, the Bible tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, NIV). To treasure things means to appreciate, cherish, or value them. Different people treasure different things, but as we study the life of Mary, we can see what she treasured.
Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share about the things Mary treasured during the time she gave birth to Jesus. We’ll see that they are things we should still treasure today.
One thing Mary treasured was the word of God. The first chapter of the Gospel of Luke tells how the angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to the Son of God. Though Mary initially expressed disbelief, she eventually declared, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38, NKJV). She recognized the angel’s announcement as God’s word to her. She accepted God’s will for her life and said “Yes” to His plan.
In the same way, we should treasure God’s word to us. God speaks in various ways if we will listen, but our response is up to us. We can embrace God’s word as Mary did, or we can ignore and reject His word.
The apostle Paul shared this truth about God’s word: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NIV).
God gives us promises, but we have to say “Amen” to them. When you say “Amen” to a statement, you’re saying that you agree. God can promise us something, but we need to trust Him enough to agree that we will see the promise fulfilled.
The words of God we find in the Bible are extremely valuable if we will truly treasure them. A few years ago, a friend of mine was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening heart complications. While he rode in the back of the ambulance, a scripture came to his mind that was particularly timely. “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD” (Psalm 118:17, NKJV). He agreed in his heart with the message of that verse and began to repeatedly speak it out loud.
I’m happy to report that the words of the scripture proved true. He did not die, but lived to declare God’s greatness in his life! His experience demonstrates the importance of treasuring the word of God. If he had not believed the truth of the scripture and received it deep in his heart, the outcome of his situation could have been much different.
So, I encourage you to treasure God’s word in your own heart today. Call to remembrance the truth God has spoken to you and say “Amen” once again. Declare to God, “Let it be to me according to Your word.”
Reflections 