“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” Luke 2:19

This Christmas, what will you treasure? What will your children treasure? Will it be the Christmas present under the tree, that in one year, three years’ time will find itself given to the Middleton Evening Market White Elephant stall?

This Christmas, what will you ponder on? What will your children ponder on? Or will Christmas be so busy and overwhelmed with the things to do that you are ponderous in your outcomes?

The birth of Christ, our glorious Messiah and Redeemer is an event to be treasured and pondered! Our fast pace of life, our self-centeredness can often mean we pay lip service (Carol singing!) to the most wondrous act of love by God the Father ever witnessed in history, matched only by the wondrous act of love by God the Son at Easter.

Mary ‘treasured up all these things’ in her heart. These ‘things’ Mary treasured were not the gifts of the Wise Men, but what the Shepherds were telling people: “the Messiah has been born! Peace on earth!”

Is this what you treasure in your heart? Is the beauty of Christ’s birth in your heart as precious to you as gold? Do you ‘guard’ your heart against worthless, fleeting treasure?

Let me encourage you to ‘treasure the things’ Mary did:

· Christ the LORD was born today.

· A Saviour for God’s people.

· Fully God and fully Man resting in a manger.

And yet, there is more…

Not only did Mary treasure all these things but she also pondered on them. Not only is the heart touched by Christ’s birth, but so too is our mind.

To “ponder” is to mull over, to think carefully about, muse on or meditate on. All this sounds awfully slow, doesn’t it? Well it should! The majestic birth of our Messiah is worth slowing down for and pondering on. Worth turning off the TV, iPhone or putting a book down for. The pace of Christmas holidays can be so frenetic that we forget to dwell on the momentous event that we are celebrating, the birth of God the Son, who humbled himself taking on the very nature of man…for us!

So, just as the Police will tell us over the Christmas season “slow down” in our driving, may I encourage you to “slow down” and take time to ponder on the treasure of God: His Son!

May Christ our Saviour bless you and be with you.

Merry Christmas

Richard Vanderpyl

Principal