Today's Reading: Luke 2:19 

Devo Author: John Marquette

Date: December 22, 2022

This verse has always been bothersome to me… It seems beset by a sense of pride within Mary’s heart. To me, it seems so misplaced that Mary felt this and the writer recorded it. My entire life, I have been told pride was wrong, especially for the Christian. Consequently, I have done all I can to “kill” the sense of pride that so easily wells up in me. Pride is, after all, sin. Right? C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, calls pride “the great sin.” It is the sin that plagued Lucifer, and led to his heavenly banishment.

So what was it Mary held so close? If we spy the verses just preceding, we see that the shepherds, having just visited Mary and the Christ child, shared what the angel of the Lord had revealed to them. Simply, the birth of this Child was the long-awaited and anticipated Messiah. The shepherds confirmed what Mary had already been told. It is no wonder Mary kept these facts foremost in her mind (treasured) and reflected (pondered) on them. However, she also knew this wasn’t about her. This was about her people–the people who long-awaited their Messiah.

I recently had a significant birthday – my 60th (ugghhh). For my birthday, my family all wrote me notes of encouragement, as their gift to me. The letters came from both my natural born and those who married in (I count them all mine); it turned into a weep-fest. They wrote more than encouragement as they shared deep feelings and affections for me. I could not have asked for a greater gift. For the next several days, guess what? I found myself thinking about those words and reflecting on them often. Treasuring and pondering… sound familiar?

It wasn’t about me holding these thoughts in a manner of pride. It was a reminder of the love they have for me and the love I hold for them as well. This experience gave me a glimpse of Mary’s heart. I think I finally get this verse. With the Incarnation, Mary had a front row seat to experience the deep, abiding love of her God. A love that runs so deep, that God was willing to manifest His love tangibly through His only Son. At the time, no one understood that better than Mary.

What moments, memories, things, anticipated do you treasure and ponder? Likely, the moments you treasure most involve others in your life. Let them know how much you love them. Better yet, spend some time treasuring and pondering on the love God has for you.