God's Word for Me Today
Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Unwrapping a Christ-Centered Christmas!
A note about online study
Introduction to God's Word for Me Today
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, as I come to this time of prayer and study today, I pray that Your Holy Spirit will fill me with Your wisdom and understanding. Give me the same ability that Mary had to “treasure things in her heart and think about them often,” when they are the things pertaining to You. Empower me to live out the words I read today and everyday, that I may be a light to those in darkness, and that others may receive the joy of Your salvation through me. These things I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word for Me Today: Luke 2:15-20
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Come on, let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, 19 but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.
Questions for Reflection
What is your favorite part of the Christmas story? Why?
What is the one thing that you have “treasured” in your heart and thought about more often than anything else in your life?
Questions for Exploration
What role do the shepherds have in the Christmas story? (2:15-17)
What is Mary’s response to the shepherd’s message? (2:19)
Questions for Understanding
What is the main point of this passage?
What role does Mary play in this particular part of the “Christmas story”?
Why were the shepherds so amazed according to this Scripture?
Questions for Application
What has God been telling you to share with others about Him recently? Commit to sharing it today!
Commit to spending at least ten minutes each day “treasuring” the amazing truths of God’s love and his salvation offered through Jesus, during this Christmas season.
Treasuring God’s Good News!
When Mary heard the shepherds’ report of angels appearing to them and announcing the birth of the Messiah, she “treasured” their words in her heart, and thought about them often. Some of the older translations tell us that Mary “pondered” them. We live in a world that is often so fast-paced that we have little time to treasure God’s Good News in Jesus, or to ponder it. One of the greatest ironies is that it is often during the Christmas season that we have the least amount of time for treasuring and pondering. We’re so busy getting ready for Christmas, and buying gifts for loved ones and friends that we don’t have the time to treasure the true gift of Christmas.
To be sure, there wasn’t as much going on at the stable in Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born as there is in America in 2001, but Mary had ample reason to be distracted. She had just given birth to her first son. She was in a strange town, attended by folks she had never met, and receiving visitors from among the riff-raff of society—the shepherds. Yet, she took everything in, and more then just receiving the information, she treasured it. She pondered it, not just that night but throughout the life of her son, Jesus. If we follow Mary’s example we find that there is, indeed, much to treasure, much to ponder in our life in Jesus Christ. If we stop for even a moment to consider that the God of the universe came here to earth, for our sakes, then we would certainly stop to treasure and ponder. If we considered for even a moment that this God not only came, but humbled himself and became one of us, for our sakes, then we would certainly stop to treasure and ponder. If we considered, for even a moment that this God DIED in our place on a cross, so that our sins could be forgiven and we could receive a new life, then we would certainly stop to treasure and ponder.
Or would we? Have the Christmas story and the Easter story become so familiar that we no longer pause to treasure and ponder them, and the awesome truth they hold? If so, what better time than right now, to stop and treasure, to stop and ponder for a moment. Friends, Jesus came as a baby for YOU and ME. He lived the only perfect life and died in our place. Then he rose again all for us! If these are not matters for treasuring and pondering then what is? Life need never be ordinary for us, because we serve an extraordinary God. Live need never be depressing or boring for us, because we serve a living and vital God of hope and joy! The Good News is SO good that we must stop, we must take time to treasure it and ponder it. Praise God for this wonderful news!
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