Continuing Consideration

“And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

(Genesis 37:11, ESV)

Some things leave us speechless.  We are left thinking … unsure of what to say.  It may be something someone said or did.  Sometimes it is good, sometimes not.  There are moments that leave us in awe … I can still picture the night of camping while up through our clearing in the trees was the most amazing display of northern lights I have ever seen. 

In these moments, it is important we consider well what we are taking in.  Does it have value to retain?  Is it something only of earthly significance, or is there a heavenly component to it?

Even though I grew up on a dairy farm, watching cows chew their cud still baffles me … but I consider it a great illustration for us.  While I am thankful I do not need to swallow my food only to bring it back up again, there is a chewing we are called to do.  We are called to meditate / to prayerfully consider / to ponder.  This is meaningful reflection within eternal realities.  We chew on scripture for example.  We keep our thoughts coming back to what is good and holy and right.

Christmas is now past, but I believe we are called to continue reflecting on it.  Mary demonstrated this in Luke chapter 2.19 … “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19, ESV).  At the visit and worship of the shepherds, she was speechless.  While she had already been told of the heavenly significance of her Son, as a mother she was taking in these marvelous realities.

In hearing the shepherds tell of the angels, in seeing their worship of Jesus so soon after His birth, she was left speechless.  She took all these details in and pondered them.  She came to no great conclusions; she just prayerfully reflected upon them.  What did they all mean?  What role was she playing in history?  Was her Son truly the promised Messiah?

My hope is that, now that Christmas is over, we do not just move on past it.  I hope we continue to ponder.  Like Mary, by her example, I hope we keep reflecting on the significance of Christ’s humanity.  His incarnation opened the door for His redemptive work, making possible our salvation as God planned it out.

We often make new year’s resolutions; this is a great time to develop a new practice or pattern in our lives.  These resolutions are often around shopping or fitness or eating habits, but maybe ours’ needs to be around reflection.  Maybe we can make a new and greater effort to ponder – like Mary – to ponder in worship, to ponder Christ, to ponder our salvation, to ponder how Christ is renewing us.  Maybe we can set a new and more disciplined habit of spending devotional time with the Lord or intentionally entering into worship while we do services online in our homes.

What does the practice of “ponder” mean to you?  What can we learn from Mary as she quietly observes God at work and prayerfully takes it all in?  In what way can we be more deliberate about considering the magnificence of God, the glory of our Creator, the work of our Saviour, the gift of our salvation?

(As prepared by Pastor Ryan for CIAM radio this week.)