Mary and Joseph Treasured their Relationship with Jesus

"And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart." Luke 2:51

Yesterday we read about how the birth of a special baby, Jesus, changed his parents’ lives forever and He can change your life forever too. For that to happen we can’t just leave Jesus in the cradle all year long or pack Him up with the rest of the Christmas stuff and put Him in the attic.  We have to have a relationship with Him, nurture that relationship and learn from His wisdom for our lives to be changed. 

In Luke 2:19 the bible tells us "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."  Luke 2:51 says "And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart."  In the one verse Mary kept all that was said about Jesus in her heart and pondered them, and in the other she kept all that Jesus said in her heart.  Can you see the significance here?  The others just visited the baby, rejoiced and celebrated a while, and went back home but Mary and Joseph took all that was said and done both about Jesus and by Jesus and meditated on them in their hearts.  They were changed forever by the words spoken by Jesus AND THE WORDS SPOKEN ABOUT JESUS!

Not to learn from our experiences can lead to future disaster.

On January 23, 1909, a small invention played a crucial role in the lives of 1500 people. The New York-bound ocean liner the "Florida" rammed into the "Republic." Jack Binns, the Republic's new wireless radio man, reassembled his contraption which had been destroyed in the collision. He sent out distress calls for the next 12 hours until the crew and passengers were rescued in the dawn light of Sunday morning. Only a few died.

Jack Binns became a national hero. He was given a ticker tape parade. Songs were written about him. He even testified before congress on the importance of regulating wireless technology on all ships. Congress listened politely but ignored his message. Binn gave up his quest, accepted no profit from his celebrity, and went back home to England to await reassignment. Three years later he received an assignment aboard a ship that he turned down. He had fallen in love and was soon to marry. The turned down assignment? The Titanic.

It is now felt that Binn's message was ignored because so few lives were lost on the Republic. It took tragedy on the scale of the Titanic for the importance of wireless to be understood.

Why are we like this? We ignore wisdom to our own peril. I wonder what would have happened to Mary had she ignored the message told her. We shall never know. We learn in our lesson that she did not turn a deaf ear. She believed what she had been told and as a result she is called blessed.

Scripture to Claim:

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ”
1 John 3:2, NASB