The Art of Treasuring the Moment: What We Can Learn from the Life of Mary

So it's been awhile since I've blogged. Like over two and a half years.  I can't believe that.  So much has happened in my life since then.  I feel all grown up now.  I've been married for a little under two years.  I now have a full time job that I love (most of the time).  There are so many other parts of life that I just love right now.

One of those things is that I am leading a women's bible study night once a month at church.  The last two months, I have felt the Holy Spirit leading me to certain lessons.  This blog post comes from the lesson from this month.  

So here it is: 

The Art of Treasuring the Moment: What We Can Learn from the Life of Mary

·      I find it fascinating that God provided so much for us in His Word to read.  There are so many stories that we tell our children and hope that they learn from.  Why can we not expect the same for ourselves?  Why could we not read what God has written us in His Word and learn from it?  It is more than just stories for us.  It is a living history.  These “stories” really happened.  The characters were real people who God used to change the course of history.  What can we learn from these people and the lives that are chronicled in the bible?

·      Today, we are going to look at Mary, the mother of Jesus.  There is much to be learned from the life that she lived here on earth.

·      There are two instances in Luke 2 that the scriptures tell us that Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 51).

·      I heard a lesson about these scriptures years ago.  I don’t remember much about the sermon or lesson itself, but I do remember that the words stuck with me.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered up instances in His life.  She treasured those times.

·      Recently, Beth Moore taught out of this scripture on the TV show that she has on TBN on Wednesday nights.  She spent two weeks going more in depth into this idea that Mary treasured up different things that happened during Jesus’ life here on earth.

·      The KJV uses the phrase, “She kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (v. 19).

·      The Greek word used here is SUNTEREO (soon-tey-rey-o), which is translated “kept” or “treasured up”.  It means to guard or keep. To preserve, keep safe or close. To remember.

·      Beth Moore called this the practice of holding the moment.  How many moments go by that we miss the importance of all-together?  Where we are too busy looking at our phones to catch what is happening around us?  Where we are too caught up in our own problems and situations to recognize the blessings that God is pouring out around us?

·      The word “pondering” in verse 19 is the Greek word SUMBALLO (soom-ball-lo), which means together, with, to cast.  To give careful consideration to various implications of an issue, to reflect on, to think about seriously, to think deeply about.

·      Perhaps we are losing this practice in our busy lives today.

·      Beth Moore suggests that maybe God chose Mary because nothing would be wasted on her.  She didn’t take for granted that God was working in her life, even when she felt like her world might have been falling apart. 

·      In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel visits Mary, a virgin betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph.  He tells her that she will conceive and bear a Son, whose name she shall call Jesus.

·      Can you imagine what might have been going through Mary’s mind at this point in time?  Can you imagine that she might have felt like her world was falling apart?  She had a future to look forward to, with a husband who would love her.  Now those plans might not come to fruition.  Joseph wouldn’t believe that she had been faithful during their betrothal, if she ended up pregnant.  He would divorce her.  She could even be stoned. 

·      Even in this moment where her heart was breaking, could it be that God was bringing forth something in her?  Could it be that God is bringing forth something in you from the breaking that you are going through?

·      Look at her response to the angel Gabriel after he told her she would conceive: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). Mary did not doubt what the angel told her.  She assumed that she would conceive even before Gabriel told her how it would happen (And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Moth High will overshadow you” – verse 35).

·      John MacArthur suggests in The MacArthur Bible Commentary that “Mary was in an extremely embarrassing and difficult position.  Yet, she willingly and graciously submitted to the will of God” (p. 1274).

·      In Luke 1:38, Mary gave herself freely as a servant of the LORD.  She gave herself over to the will of God, even though she did not understand it completely.  “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

·      Luke 1:45 says, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”  Again, Mary did not doubt what God spoke to her!  Mary was blessed for (and by) her faith.

·      After the visit from the angel Gabriel and while still with her cousin, Mary praised God.  This is found in her song of praise, also called The Magnificat, which is found in Luke 1:46-55.  She told of what God had done for her.  Verse 47 says that her “spirit rejoices in God my Savior”.  The ESV footnote for this verse suggests that Mary’s entire being is caught up in praise to God.  She also vocalizes her need for a Savior in this verse.  This is something that each one of us must come to the realization of before we can accept Jesus as our Savior. 

·      John MacArthur said, “A right view of the Incarnation hinges on the truth that Jesus was virgin-born” (p. 1272).

·      The virgin birth is a foundational stone of our faith.  Without the virgin birth, Jesus was just another man – not fully God and fully man.  If Jesus wasn’t virgin-born, He wouldn’t have been enough to save us from our sins.

·      Mary was a recipient of divine grace (verse 28), as shown in how the angel addressed her when he first came “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (JMBC 1272).

·      The Magnificat of Mary reveals to us that her heart and mind were saturated with the Word of God.  This prayer echoes that of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:11; 2:1-10.

·      Now back to how Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart”.  Mary meditated on what God was doing in her life.  She did not just take for granted that God was there and working.  She took time and made the effort to meditate and focus on how God was working in her life.

·      Luke 2:22 – “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” – Mary followed the laws laid down by God.  Mary and Joseph were faithful to following God and His laws. 

·      The offering that they brought to the temple shows us that she and Joseph were poor (Lev. 12:6, 8).

·      Later in the chapter, verse 48, Mary shows concern for her missing Son.  She knows that He is the Son of God, but she still shows concern for Him.  This shows us that she has motherly care and affection for Him.

·      As Matthew preached on a few weeks ago, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple, about the Father’s business, as He told them.  In those days, the sons took up the craft of their fathers.  Joseph was a carpenter, so Jesus would have been trained in carpentry.  In this passage, though, He speaks of being about His Father’s business.  He does not mean Joseph, his earthly father, but of God, His Father in heaven.  The business He refers to here is the redemption of man.  Jesus is learning and working for the kingdom of God even at 12 years old.

·      In John 2:1-5, we see the wedding at Cana.  In verse 4, Jesus distances Himself from His mother.  John MacArthur suggests that Mary had to start recognizing Jesus, not as much as a Son she raised, but as the promised Messiah and Son of God.  Mary had to recognize Jesus for Who He is.  I wonder if this broke her heart, even just a little. She nursed this God-man at her breast.  She was there for all of His firsts, all of His awkward growth spurts (if He had any).  And yet, she had to distance herself from Him.  She knew the prophesies about the Messiah and how He would have to die for the sins of the world.

·      In John 19: 25-27, we see that Jesus takes care of Mary even on the cross.  He told John to take her into his home as his own mother.  The ESV footnotes say that Mary was probably widowed at this point in time and had very little income.  This means that she had already suffered the loss of Joseph, and she was watching the death of her Son.  While she knew He was the Messiah before He was born, that cannot lessen the pain of watching her child of 33 years die in such a horrible way.  Mary mourned the loss of Jesus.  Through this mourning, Mary showed that she is just as human as the rest of us.

·      Acts 1:14 – “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers” – shows us that Mary kept going after the death of her Son.  She persevered!

·      Mary was a woman who knew a treasure when she had one.  She knew that God blessed her by choosing her to bear the Son of God into this world and raise Him up in the ways He should go.  While Jesus knew the law before He was born, Mary and Joseph also trained Him up in it.

·      We need to reclaim our thoughts as Mary did.  She chose to ponder and treasure up the ways that God was working in her life.  Are we?  Do we make a conscious effort to praise God for Who He is and what He has done in our lives?

·      Making excuses will hijack our healing.  We must make time for this as we live our lives for the glory of God.  Pondering what God has done in our lives will make us for thankful and maybe more able to see how He is still moving.  If you are still here on this earth, God still has great plans for your life.  He would call you home to heaven otherwise.

·      Our contribution to the kingdom of God comes with focus.

·      Our callings, our next acts of obedience, our healing, our liberty, and our transformation are dependent upon us girding up our minds – 1 Peter 1:13 –  “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (NKJV).

Thanks for reading!

In God, Emily