Ponder in Your Heart
Each Christmas I enjoy looking at the Christmas story in the Bible. I seem to notice new things each year, or something imparticular will get my attention. One verse I have tried to think about this year is Luke 2:19, which says, "But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart." Seeing the movie The Nativity Story made me think about the meaning of this verse and "all these things" that Mary was pondering. So many amazing events occured that first Christmas season, from the unlikely birth of John the Baptist to the visits of the shepherds and the wise men. Mary had a lot to think about.
This Christmas, I'm trying to "ponder all these things in my heart," both about the Christmas story and about how God has blessed my own life.
One thing I love about the Christmas story is the simplicity of the Christmas message: There has been born a Savior; he is Christ, the Lord. Right there in one verse from the Christmas story is the gospel in a nutshell. There is a Savior! Jesus came to save us from our sins. That's good news. I've also been thinking about the prophetic implications of Christmas this year. Myriads of prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus' birth. Pastor MacArthur talked about many of these prophecies last night at church and did not begin to scratch the surface. However, even more myriads of prophecies remain unfulfilled. Christ is coming again, and we should be anticipating that like Simeon was anticpating his first coming. (Luke 2:25-35)
This Christmas I've also been pondering how God has blessed by life, specifically through my family, my friends, and my future semester at IBEX. I will never stop giving thanks for my family. One cool thing about my family this year has been that it has grown! I now have a nephew and a new sister! Tyler is the cutest little dude I know, and it has been so much fun to watch Billy and Cory get engaged and get married. God has also blessed me with great friends. This last week I traveled to Yosemite with people I have made friends with over the past couple years and even the past couple weeks. God is so faithful to continue to bring godly friends into my life. At the same time, I still enjoy keeping in touch with some good friends from high school. Just this afternoon I got a call from my friend Richard; we enjoyed catching up and thinking about all that has happened in our lives since our BA days. Finally, I'm so thankful for the opportunities I have to travel this next semester to Israel. It should be an awesome learning experience, and it should be some of the most fun I've ever had. I'm really excited about the group of people with which I will be traveling.
It's been a good Christmas here in Santa Clarita. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the break hanging out with friends and family and getting ready for Israel. Hopefully, I'll be blogging it up, too! Have a great Christmas.
This Christmas, I'm trying to "ponder all these things in my heart," both about the Christmas story and about how God has blessed my own life.
One thing I love about the Christmas story is the simplicity of the Christmas message: There has been born a Savior; he is Christ, the Lord. Right there in one verse from the Christmas story is the gospel in a nutshell. There is a Savior! Jesus came to save us from our sins. That's good news. I've also been thinking about the prophetic implications of Christmas this year. Myriads of prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus' birth. Pastor MacArthur talked about many of these prophecies last night at church and did not begin to scratch the surface. However, even more myriads of prophecies remain unfulfilled. Christ is coming again, and we should be anticipating that like Simeon was anticpating his first coming. (Luke 2:25-35)
This Christmas I've also been pondering how God has blessed by life, specifically through my family, my friends, and my future semester at IBEX. I will never stop giving thanks for my family. One cool thing about my family this year has been that it has grown! I now have a nephew and a new sister! Tyler is the cutest little dude I know, and it has been so much fun to watch Billy and Cory get engaged and get married. God has also blessed me with great friends. This last week I traveled to Yosemite with people I have made friends with over the past couple years and even the past couple weeks. God is so faithful to continue to bring godly friends into my life. At the same time, I still enjoy keeping in touch with some good friends from high school. Just this afternoon I got a call from my friend Richard; we enjoyed catching up and thinking about all that has happened in our lives since our BA days. Finally, I'm so thankful for the opportunities I have to travel this next semester to Israel. It should be an awesome learning experience, and it should be some of the most fun I've ever had. I'm really excited about the group of people with which I will be traveling.
It's been a good Christmas here in Santa Clarita. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the break hanging out with friends and family and getting ready for Israel. Hopefully, I'll be blogging it up, too! Have a great Christmas.
posted by Ben Blakey at 3:40 PM
1 Comments:
Bro, Thanks for the Christmas ponderings! The Lord is definitely a Giver of good gifts and I'm excited about how He is blessing your life!
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