As the sun sets on the year 2022, count your blessings, consider your sorrows, calculate your regrets, and celebrate your successes. And above all, remember Jesus. Never for one second did He leave you or forsake you. His grace was amazing; His goodness and mercy followed you.
As the sun rises on the year 2023, take to heart the words of Brad Paisley.
The German Christmas pyramid spins, the fire glows, and the music plays. Sipping warm wassail from a red mug, I absorb the ambiance and ponder the significance of the occasion. Even in the buzz of busyness, a sense of quiet and holy awe always surrounds The Christmas Story.
For a brief moment, consider 3 aspects of The Wonder Within the Words:
The Inconvenience for Mary and Joseph
The Insignificance of Bethlehem
The Incomparable magnitude of the manger
The Inconvenience for Mary and Joseph
My respect for this young faith-filled couple only increases with each reading. The arduous travel, the ambiguity, the aloneness, and the absence of a mother or a sister all portray a daunting picture of enormous inconvenience. Yet, we glaze over their challenges.
Pause…
Obedience involves inconvenience.
The Insignificance of Bethlehem
Have you ever asked, “Why Bethlehem?” The prophecy in Micah 5:2 records Bethlehem's seeming insignificance: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.
Pause…
Jesus. Gave. Bethlehem. Significance.
Does this thought find lodging in your soul? (It does in mine.) Jesus gave Bethlehem significance, and Jesus gives you and me significance.
The Incomparable magnitude of the manger
My amazement concerning the manger deepens even further when we consider how my story merges with your story and how our story merges with their story—that one Glorious Story!
Pause…
The Messiah in the manger is the Savior in our hearts.
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven … to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant … (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Here is a suggestion: take a moment now to rediscover and savor The Wonder Within The Words, as you read, alone and aloud, the beloved Christmas Story:
Luke 2: 1-20
In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
It is true, isn’t it? Jesus has changed our hearts forever. And because of Him, we are able to grasp The Wonder Within the Words.
Now, may you have a wonderful season of celebration. Lord willing, I will meet you here again in January 2023, and together we can press on toward Living With Eternal Intentionality®.
In The Story of Luke 2:1-20, the insistence of a pagan king inconveniences a young couple. A crowded city pulses with surges of humanity. Ordinary shepherds have front-row seats to a heavenly concert. The significance of the Text grips our hearts with nouns, pronouns, scenes, settings, characters, conflict, crisis, and choir.
Join me for a closer look at the action, which practically explodes off the Pages.
Caesar Augustus decreed
Joseph obeyed
Joseph and Mary traveled
Mary birthed
Angel appeared
Shepherds feared
Angel proclaimed
Heavenly Host praised
Angels left
Shepherds conferred
Shepherds hurried
Shepherds spread
All were amazed
Mary treasured
Mary pondered
Shepherds returned
Wow!
Decreed, obeyed, traveled, birthed
Appeared, feared, proclaimed, praised
Left, conferred, hurried, spread
Amazed, treasured, pondered, returned
Ironically, the same ancient verbs express activity in our 21st-century lives. We, too, travel, fear, praise, and hurry. But in the seasonal chaos, do we stop long enough to experience the Verbs of Mary?
Oh, Verbs of Christmas, move over and make room for us to treasure and ponder!
Treasure—Who He is
Ponder—What He has done for us
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). This Christmas, Don’t Forget the Verbs of Mary.
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
"He has put eternity in the heart of man" (Ecclesiastes 3:11b).
Did we miss a verb that should be added to the list found in Luke 2:1-20?
With which Verb of Christmas do you most identify?
How will you shove aside The Verbs of Christmas to make room for The Verbs of Mary?
Suggestion: Invite a friend to go for hot chocolate and, while together, discuss the meaning of the words treasure and ponder. Share how God is shedding light on the significance of these verbs in your own life this season.
