Treasuring in the Heart
How many times did Sarah replay, in her mind, words predicting a child in her old age?Surely, Hannah ran the words spoken to her by Eli the priest over and over again in her thoughts.
Everyone's heart treasures something. Words, memories, faces, dreams. Look to see what your heart overflows with and you will see what you treasure.
Replay... replay... replay...
Mary was no different. In the first two chapters of his gospel account, Luke tells us that Mary "discerns," "treasures" (twice), and "ponders" words, situations, and reactions--all regarding the birth and life of her son, Jesus.
I found it interesting that the Greek word used in Luke 2:19 for "ponder" is sumballo, which means "to throw together," "discuss," or "confer." Mary worked through all of these strange, wonderful, difficult events by talking to herself! It seems even a 1st century woman was guilty of the occasional chat with herself.
Just think of the events Mary stored up in her memory:
1) Gabriel's visit and message from God
2) Elizabeth's prophecy
3) Shepherds' testimony
4) Simeon's prophecy
5) Leaving behind of Jesus in Jerusalem
With each event, Mary's understanding of Who her Son was must have become a little clearer.
Concerning Mary's ponderings, John Calvin said, "For if we are wise, it will be the chief employment, and the great object of our life, to consider with attention those works of God which build up our faith. Mary kept all these things... to collect the several events which agreed in proving the glory of Christ, so that they might form one body. For Mary could not wisely estimate the collective value of all those occurrences, except by comparing them with each other."
And again, "Mary kept in her heart those things which she did not fully understand. Let us learn from this, to receive with reverence, and to lay up in our minds (like the seed, which is allowed to remain for some time under ground), those mysteries of God which exceed our capacity" (John Calvin, Commentary on the Harmony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009], 124-25).
Mary's ponderings served two purposes: to work her own faith out and to share Christ with others.
Have you ever gotten to the point that you almost can't remember the details of how you came to faith in Christ? You know you believe, but it's hazy as to how you got there...
A good project, during this season of celebrating our Savior's birth, would be to open up the rusty parts of our memories and remind ourselves of the details of our conversions. Words, memories, faces, dreams... we are no different from Mary--we too need to meditate on Who Christ is and what He has done for us.
And then--share Him with others.
Robin Lawrence
Labels: Advent, Christmas, Gospel, Guest Post
posted by Tim Shorey at
7:30 AM
4 Comments:
Thanks Robin, I like the way you brought out the meaning of synballo. It's the opposite of ekballo or to "cast out".
In pondering the Providence of God, it's always important to "pull together" or (synballo) the sometimes disparate events and facts to rightly apprehend the real picture of what God is doing in out lives. Great job.
JR
Robin, thank you for today's writing which has indeed given me pause to consider with attention the works of Father and my faith has indeed been built upon.
sdpaul
We so often do not ponder enough, do not reflect enough on the various aspects of the truth of God and His dealings in our lives.
God has spoken to us, God has engaged our lives, but we do not take sufficient time or make sufficient effort to think deeply about these things, to appropriately ponder as Mary did, and as you so well point out--------and therefore we are impoverished spiritually, and too often fail to think and act Biblically.
Robin, thank you for helping us see an essential thing we need to do to work out our own faith and to be better prepared to share Christ with others. Excellent!
It seems that we make ourselves too busy to ponder. In the face of things learned and things experienced from the hand and mind of God we need to pause and ask:
--What has God said to me in this?
--What has God done for me in this?
--What does it all mean?
--And what does it mean to me by way of application for worship and gratitude and adoration and delight?
Only with such intentional reflection will we ever redeem the truth and ways of god for life.
Thanks for getting us thinking along these lines Robin.
TMS
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