Treasuring the Word

UV 982/10,000 Treasuring the Word But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2 v 19 Mary secretly treasured up all the things that happened to her from before the birth of Jesus, the circumstances of His birth and how He grew up, the things Jesus did and spoke and often thought about these things. Mary stored it in her mind or memory but pondered it in her heart. It was a life-giving and life-enhancing fusion of thought and emotion, reason and passion. It were these memories that were a balm of healing after her own heart was pierced at the sight of her beloved Son being crucified. These memories became the basis for providing the details in the gospel of St Luke as the latter interviewed Mary and became privy to her treasured secrets. The Word remains dormant unless we treasure it in our minds and ponder over it in our hearts. When we ponder over it, the awesome wonder of God will be revealed in due time. Even a single line or even a word or phrase from scripture is powerful as it is authored not by man but by an absolutely holy, gracious and awesome God. It is backed by His absolute authority. Even the most revered or most famous award winning books will one day be forgotten but the Word is treasured by those who believe in every generation. When God spoke the words, “ let there be light”, the sun, moon and stars came into being. The universe and all in it barring man was brought into being by the very words of God. Man was formed by God with His own hands. We not only have feet of clay but we are formed completely from clay but we are made in the very image of God. We alone can understand and follow the words of God. Though He forms us with His hands, He transforms us with His Word. He has given us the power to hold or treasure or retain His Word in our hearts and minds. He has given us the gift of faith to believe in each word, phrase and line. The world was brought into being with His Word and now the Word can be spoken to bless the world. He has given us the power to speak, to declare, to proclaim the Word of God. As we do so, the grace and power of God is released. We receive the power to rule, dominate and subdue the world within us and without, the seen and the unseen even as God has commanded us to subdue the world. Each uni-verse needs to be treasured or esteemed as most precious in our lives. Like a connoisseur of rare and precious treasure, we need to store it carefully in our memories and thoughts. David wrote that “ I store your words in my heart that I might not sin against you.” We need to daily and often run our thoughts over the words and their inner meanings and applications. It should not be like treasure that is buried and forgotten but we should put it to use in our lives. The source of this treasure being infinite, we never run the risk of it being used up or exhausted. As we use it, it gets replenished and ready to use again and again. The more we store, the more we use, the more we are blessed and the more we become a blessing. Prateep V Philip