But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
I have a problem that I know a lot of pastors have: verbal diarrhea. I’m not trying to say that every pastor has this problem, but it’s just that a big part of what we do is speak and so we tend to do a lot of talking. We talk to people all throughout the week about their problems. We talk to leaders about how they could improve. We talk to our friends about how things are going. And obviously the big one is the talk we prepare for and deliver at least once a week. Quite honestly, I talk way too much.
And so I find it hard for myself to quiet down at times and reflect. My “reflection” times typically involve me talking through what is going on with a friend. And while this isn’t bad, I do think there may be another way to do things.
Here we find Mary in the midst of a story that is spiraling to greater heights than she’d imagined it would. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a young teenage girl who just gave birth and then all of a sudden there’s a bunch of stinky shepherds who come into your “hospital room” to see the baby and to essentially gawk at the whole situation? That had to be a little weird. It had to be a bit uncomfortable for Mary. And at the same time it had to be awe-inspiring. “How did they know what had happened?” “How did they know to come here?” “Who or what is going to be next?” I’m sure Mary had a whole slew of thoughts running through her mind.
And the Bible tells us she treasured up the whole experience and pondered the thoughts in her heart.
There may not have been a whole lot of talking going on with Mary, but there was a lot of internal dialogue going on. She was getting to see God’s promise come true and sat quietly just being amazed by God and His faithfulness.
So as Christmas inches closer and closer, I want to find myself pondering in my heart what all this means for me and for the world. I want to treasure up what gifts God has already given me and really, deeply appreciate them. It’s so easy to talk and talk and talk and to move on to the next big thing. It’s sometimes nice to just stop. Stop and reflect on what God’s already done.