Treasure These Things in Your Heart

Happy New Year!

I know Christmas was last week already, but stay with me for a second. This Christmas, I was struck by the fact that there was so much hubbub and noise around the time Jesus was born. First, an angel appears to a priest, a young virgin, and a carpenter by dreams to announce that they are going to be parents to important sons, then once Jesus is born, angels announce his birth to a gathering of shepherds, and a star guides three Magi to the place. When they bring Jesus to the temple to be named and circumcised, a man prophesies that he’s looking at God’s salvation. After this, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and warns him to leave the country, so the young family takes refuge in Egypt to protect their newborn child. And then?

Nothing.

It’s almost like nothing happened to begin with. The next time we hear about Jesus is when he is a precocious 12-year-old boy staying behind in Jerusalem to talk about the scriptures and the law with the teachers at the temple, followed by another 18 years of radio silence.

I’ve always been struck by the line in Luke 2:51 that says Mary treasured these things in her heart.

I feel that when we see God working in our lives, we get excited and expect this to continue indefinitely. Sometimes it does, but more often, it ends or we just get used to it.

As we enter the new year, it sometimes feels like coming off an emotional high from the Holidays, and the days that stretch between January 2nd and Easter can feel bleak. My encouragement is to treasure those times in your heart. Treasure the things that you have learned in this season, and keep them close to your heart as you re-enter the mundane, the sameness of life in this challenging season.