Day 5: Treasure With Us
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Luke 2:19 (ESV)
Christmas tends to make me a little… grumpy. I don’t like endings and I abhor goodbyes. As an angsty teen, I began to sense frustration with the inescapable fact that, after the month of excitement and anticipation of Christmas, it would all be over in a flash. My extended family would travel back to their own houses, the decorations hung with care would all be removed, and I’d soon be back to school.
Bah. Humbug.
I started to anticipate the end of Christmas before it even began. No matter how festive the atmosphere around me was, there was always a pity party in my heart that, sadly, I still tend to RSVP for every year as an adult.
On the very first Christmas, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus were visited by shepherds who had heard of our Savior’s birth (from angels!) and scholars with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Not a bad baby shower.
Yet, Mary could have tempered her joy. The shepherds and wise men would stop fawning over Jesus and return to their homes. At some point, their gifts would all be spent. And, as many parents can attest to, her baby would be grown in the blink of an eye. Instead, she treasured all these things and inspected them closely in her heart.
In the Bible, the heart is the place that our experience of life flows from. It’s like a museum of our thoughts, emotions, desires, and memories. How we choose to curate that museum, what we allow to hang in the halls of our heart, affects everything from our actions to our enjoyment of life. Mary framed the beautiful details of this celebration and put them behind bulletproof glass.
While I may still contend with the same sense of disappointment this Christmas, I’m also on the lookout for some priceless works of art, storing up treasures from each conversation with family, each church service, and those simple, quiet moments with Jesus in the midst of it all.
Though Christmas will all too quickly come to an end, it doesn’t have to be an end. We can choose to place Christ in the most prominent location of our inner gallery. We can ponder the riches and richness of His presence in every season and find we are never far from Immanuel, for He is with us.
Glory! Hallelujah!
Day 4: Healing With Us
While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7 (NASB)he plan was to be home by...
Day 3: United With Us
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our...
Day 2: Home With Us
Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ Matthew 2:23 (NLT)hen I think of Christmas, I think of home. Home is a place we all long for and sometimes cannot...
Day 1: Present With Us
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. John 1:14a (ESV)he cold night air frosted my breath as my chore boots crunched across the snowy farmyard. On my way toward the goat barn, I paused to look up at the crisp,...