Mary store these things in her heart

“Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.  And his mother stored all these things in her heart.”  Luke 2:51

He was 12 years old at this time.  “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all people.” Luke 2:52

That would be the last we will read of his boyhood.  The bible doesn’t tell us anything more than that.  There are 18 years unaccounted for in Jesus’ life here on this earth.  Some scholar’s say these were the silent years.  Yeah I guess so, but that last verse in Luke 2 does outline what he was doing those 18 years.  He grew.  He was obedient to Mary and Joseph.  According to historical facts about those days, Jesus would have been learning the trade of his father Joseph.  He would have been learning how to make things from wood.  Joseph was a carpenter.  Jesus would have helped Joseph in the carpentry shop.  Can’t you just see him during those years with adolescent ganglingness trying to carry in wood for Joseph to carve more furniture.  I wonder at times were his feet too big for his growing limbs?  Did he trip carrying in the wood?  Did he go with Joseph to the forest to cut down more trees?  Did he recollect planting the garden of Eden?  During these 18 silent years the bible says he grew in wisdom and in maturity.  I do not think Jesus suffered from teenage boy brain blips.  I raised a teenage boy.  He brought his teenage friends over to the house.  There were days I decided that each boy just took his brain out and left it on his bed in his room.  I called them brain blips.  Their adventures were filled with moments when I knew if they were really contemplating their actions they would not be participating in these endeavors.  They loved to play “who would throw up first as each smelled dirty socks and other more disgusting things.”  Seriously who in their right mind would play these things?  Who would play “ping pong X-treme” where you would serve the ping-pong ball as hard as you could at your friend to see who could leave the reddest mark?  All I know is those were things I witnessed from teenage boys.  They weren’t the sinless, spotless Son of God, but they were my boys.  They were my son and his buddies.  You may call these endeavors foolish, so would I, but I also call them treasured memories that brings a smile to my face as I recollect them.  These were the moments I stored away to remember the innocent times of Landry’s youth.

Mary did the same thing.  Luke 2:51 says she stored these memories of Jesus’ birth, childhood and adolescent days in her heart.  The Greek word for stored is “dietereo.”  We get our word diary from it.  The word literally means “to keep safe” and “thoroughly keep to ensure final safety” and to keep intact for successful final delivery.”  As we studied the events of the first Christmas, did you ever wonder where we got these stories?  How were these stories passed down to us?  At some point in time Dr Luke would have interviewed Mary, and at that point all those memories stored in her heart would have come spilling out.  She had kept them safe until her final delivery point, i.e. the point at which Dr Luke and Matthew would have put them to pen and paper.

The last verse of the book of John says, “There are so many other things Jesus did.  If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.”  John 21:15  THE MESSAGE BIBLE

I have been on a journey since the beginning of December preparing my heart for Christmas.  I took my time and looked long and hard at each person involved in that first Christmas.  I wanted to really cherish all that Christmas meant.  I wanted to really thank God for sending His One and Only Son into this world for my sins.  Christmas 2015 came and went for all of us, but for me it held a deeper treasure.  There was a depth added to my Christmas this year that had been missing in Christmas’ past because I took my time to look at the real meaning of Christmas.  In his second letter Peter stressed to believers the need for diligent study of God’s Word if they were to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  That is what took place in my heart this Christmas.  I really appreciated the beauty of the story that God gave us in the birth of His Son.  My heart was prepared for the sights and sounds of Christmas.  I had “stored” all the truths God was teaching me through the lives of the people of Christmas.

Easter is fast approaching.  In 50 days believers will celebrated our Risen Lord!

“For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭11:23-31‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.11.23-31.nlt

Just as I did for Christmas, I am going to take these next 50 days and examine my heart and study the life and actions of Jesus because I know that by doing this Easter will take on a greater celebration for me.  Jesus once asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”  I hear my Lord asking me the same question, “Kellye, who do you say that I am?”  “Let me study on that for a season, Lord, and by the time Easter rolls around my answer will be fuller and my knowledge of You will be more personal.”

Do you want to start another journey with me?  Let’s begin at Jesus’ baptism.  Let’s delve into His life.  Let’s become those people who encounter Him.  I have been the woman who reached out to touch the hem of His robe.  I have been the woman so filled with thankfulness I wiped His feet with my tears.  Who are you among the people He encounters?  Are you the publican who thought your sins were piled to high for Jesus to reach you and in the next moment Jesus says, “Matthew, come follow me?”  Doesn’t this sound like an exhilarating and action-packed adventure?  Let’s start a diary of our own of the Life and Escapades of Jesus.

Let’s roll!