This child will die...

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

Imagine with me for a moment the birth of a child, maybe even your child. The pain of childbirth being met with the cry of a long awaited infant. The placing of that tiny life into the trembling arms of the mother. The hope of this promised life. The joyful tear that streams down the face of the father & the quaking voice of the mother as she brings the baby to her breast…… “My Child I have waited for you!”.

Imagine the celebration... the visitors that have come to meet this new life, the gifts and congratulations that accompany them, the first night spent watching your child sleep. This new life now so intricately connected to your own you cant even imagine a life without them but...

THIS CHILD WILL DIE!

THIS CHILD WILL BE BEATEN, SPIT UPON & EXECUTED!

The tiny, tender hands you have grown to love will have nails driven through them. The head you have held a million times will have a crown of thorns placed painfully upon it. The feet you kissed & played with will be placed together, nailed to the rough wood of a cross & torn under the weight of their own body. The body that you had tenderly cared for will barely be recognizable.
You will watch as the life you loved will breathe its last breath.

YOUR CHILD WILL DIE!


I've often wondered what thoughts ran through Mary's head as she watched her son die. Did she curse God or was she able to hold on to the hope and promise of what was foretold years before? Did she return to the memories of that night in Bethleham as she weathered that storm?

What would you do?

What happens most often is that we forget God's promises in the midst of the storm? We forget all he has done for us or we fail to recognize it. I have no doubt that night in Bethleham that Mary, unaware of what was to come, treasured up for herself the very things that she would cling to as she placed her child within that tomb. That was the only thing she could do. Her hope was all that was left and there might come a day when that is all that is left for you.

If so, what promises will you hold unto when life storms threaten to overwhelm? Have you treasured (stored) up for yourself the promises of God? Have you pondered all the things he has done for you? Have you like Mary, treasured up all these things and pondered them in your heart?

Take it deeper.....

Look to God's word for the promises he has given to those who believe and store them up for yourself.
Ponder the tiny miracles, simple joys and tender moments that he has blessed you with. Better yet write them down.
Talk with your family about what it means to have hope, but most of all make sure that you put your hope in what last forever.... Jesus!!