Beyond Treasuring to Pondering

I've had a request to give the cliff notes version of a portion of the sermon I delivered yesterday called "Twas a week after Christmas." The main point of the sermon was how we should react to Christmas and what God allowed us to come into contact in all of 2011 with the purpose of living closer to Him in 2012.

There were four parts to the sermon but central to the message was verse 19 from Luke Chapter 2 that says, " But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

The word treasure can mean many things but in this context of scripture I believe it to means to gather, make a pile or list of things that have been impacting in your life. Not necessarily doing anything with them, but for posterity sake, making sure they are in close proximity should there ever be a need to find them and remember a detail or fact that might easily be forgotten. In the Christmas story things that Mary would have treasured were the visit to see Zechariah and Elizabeth, the birth of their son John the Baptist, The angel Gabriel's visit and words to her, Joseph's reaction to her announcement that she was with child, Joseph's dream, the long hard journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth of the Christ child, The surprising visit from the shepherds, the question of why God chose her? And last but not least, as she begins to ponder...what the future will be like for her son.

Pondering, again in this setting, and for our purposes, means connecting the dots of the things, people, places, experiences, and circumstances that up to this point have been collected or treasured with the purpose of trying to figure out what God may be trying to show us about ourselves and what kind of life He wants us to live in the future. No doubt as Mary pondered she put the independent variables together to better realize what God was up to and how she could be in one accord with His will as her son began his life and purpose here on earth.

The best word picture I can give for going beyond treasuring to pondering is a jigsaw puzzle. When you pour it out of the box on the table you've got many different independent pieces (Treasures) that if put together make a big picture. That's what the result of pondering the treasures God has brought into your life can reveal. But before you say to yourself, well "That was easy" you need to be reminded that it's easy to think about doing, but actually very hard work to do. How many jigsaw puzzles have you started and never got around to finishing? You probably didn't finish them because you weren't able to. You didn't finished them because it takes time, effort, commitment and focus to look at all the pieces closely, group them by color and shape, then begin to see which ones connect and which ones don't. I'm sure you know the routine.

God wants us to approach the things (Pieces of the puzzle) over Christmas and this past year with the mindset that we can connect them and see a clearer picture of what He's trying to show us or who He is trying to get us to become. Treasuring comes naturally to us, but pondering is hard work and only an exercise for those who really care to discern what God is trying to show them.

To help us get there I've come up with a simple but serious exercise that will help you treasure this past year and Ponder what if means when you add prayer to the equation for 2012.

1- Carve out one hour of uninterrupted time (Quiet zone, no people, phone, tv, music, or internet)
2- Begin with prayer
3- Tell God you are sorry that most of the time you are guilty of only treasuring the things He's brought to you in life and not pondered what it is that He's trying to show you with them.
4- Ask Him what good and bad things He wants you to remember from 2011?
5- List a top 10 of major  happenings in your own life (Positive or negative impact) in the past year. 
Hint: Writing down the names of the months helps me recall what happened when.
6- Continuing in prayer...ask Him to reveal to you re-ocuring patterns or lessons in your list
7- Reflect on a predominant characteristic about God you've been aware of in 2011
8- Ask how you can get to know Him better in 2012?
9- Ask Him where He might be leading you in 2012?


By the way... I don't believe in resolutions. We may change our ways for a short time based on guilt, but true and lasting life change will only happen when we grow in our relational intimacy with Christ. Here's to you and I living closer to God and His will than you eve have before in 2012.