What do you treasure up and ponder on?

In Luke 2:19, Mary, the mother of Jesus, “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” What did she treasure up and ponder on? She treasured the incredible events that lead up to the birth of Jesus and she pondered the surprise wonder and delight of Shepherds who had come to worship her baby. What do you treasure up in your heart and ponder?

I have a large glass vase on my kitchen table that is currently filled with sparkly garland and pretty Christmas bulbs. It came to mind the other day that that same vase once held sad words, bold faced lies and much pain from women’s wounded hearts. Please let me explain.

I used that same vase for a prayer station at a Women’s Retreat I led. That station had women praying healing over old wounds and old hurts in their hearts. They prayed over paper “chains” they had written out at a prior station. These were no namby-pamby wounds, they were deep seated yuck they had been believing and suffering under for years. Here are just a few of the sad wounds/thoughts these women were living with:

broken
ruined
stained
excluded
hopeless

Sad, huh? These are only a tiny sample of the words the ladies at the retreat were feeling. These words and many more filled the vase to overflowing, we actually had to squish the paper chains down to fit all of them. These were all Christian ladies well into their walks with Jesus, yet these were the things they were treasuring and pondering in their hearts. Doubly sad, huh?

I guess my point is this, we all have a heart with which we can fill with all sorts of stuff. Mary, Jesus’s mother, could have focused on how she and Joseph were being ostracized by their community (my personal assumption) or how they had to travel that long distance to be counted in the census or even how they were in a filthy stable where she gave birth. Yet, she chose to treasure the good happening in the midst of the storms of her life. She chose to SEE the provision of the stable and chose to SEE the wonder of the amazed shepherds bowing down to worship her Son. God chose well when He chose her for His Son’s mother.

So, I ask again, what are you treasuring up and pondering on? Are you focused on hurts and wounds from ages past? Or perhaps fresh wounds that keep replaying in your mind? If so, it’s time to dump out your vase and start to consciously choose what you put in it.

How about some:

Garlands of Grace

Sparkles of the Spirit

Blazing Bulbs of Love

You are a beloved child of The Mighty King of All Creation who sent His Only Son to live, die and rise for you. He did ALL of this because of His Deep, Reckless and Unrelenting LOVE for you. You are loved like that so how can any of the garbage you have believed in the past stand in the light of that love? It cannot, simple as that.

That said, it doesn’t just magically go away. It takes work on your part to sit with God in quietness to let Him reset your thoughts. Let Him take you from broken to whole, from stained to white as snow. If you draw near to Him with a heart ready for transformation, He will draw near to you and happily complete your transformation.

As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, don’t lose the message. God sent His Son to set you FREE! God will walk with you into full freedom from your past struggles and pits. The only thing keeping you back is you. Ask God for help and He will deliver you, as it says in…

Love and blessings,

Pamela