So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:16-19
Gracious Lord Jesus, as I meditate upon this holy vignette of your birth, once again, I’m dumbfounded and awestruck by the glory of your incarnation. You, the very God who created all things, the Lord who sustains all things by the power of your word, the Redeemer who is making all things new—you drew nourishment from a young maiden’s breast. In time, Mary would be entirely dependent on you for your grace. But before that day, you made yourself entirely dependent upon Mary for her milk. Unparalleled humility, condescending love, miracle of miracles… so great is your incarnation.
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”—the perfect response of awe and adoration. Take me deeper into this way of life, Jesus. Hurrying off like a shepherd to tell others about you has always been easier for me than sitting still while you tell me about yourself. It’s always been easier for me to talk than to listen, to stay busy than to relax, to be “productive” than to be meditative. I confess this as sin, for knowing about you is not the same thing as knowing you. An informed mind is not the same thing as an enflamed heart. Give me a bigger heart, Jesus, and fill it with your glory and grace—your beauty and your bounty.
To know you is eternal life, and I do want to know you so much better than I already do. I want to contemplate everything you’ve already accomplished through your life, death, and resurrection. I want to marinate in every good thing you’re presently doing as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I want to saturate my heart with a vision of what it will be like to live with you forever in the new heaven and new earth—beloved bride to loving Bridegroom. There’s so much to treasure… so much to ponder.
Jesus, it’s not as though I’m a stranger to treasuring and pondering, for I treasure and ponder a lot of things—things, however, that don’t really matter… that have no power to save. Slow me down, settle me, and center me, that I might increasingly say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25-26). So very Amen I pray, Lord Jesus, in your peerless and priceless name.