4th Week of Advent: PONDER
Today we heard a familiar story from the Bible: Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Here we have a teenager who is engaged to be married, who is going about her daily routine, when God springs onto the scene to ask her to be the mother of the Messiah, and she says “yes!”, and now, she’s visiting her cousin who is with child in her old age. Elizabeth’s first words to Mary are:“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
Even the unborn child, John, recognized that Mary was carrying the Jesus, our Lord, in her womb!
Mary is awesome. She is the first disciple of Christ. She is our role model because just like her, God has a plan for each of us.
We’re going fast forward for a minute to the birth of Christ. In Luke’s gospel, the shepherds come to visit, think about how Mary and Joseph must feel- they traveled to Bethlehem, they just had a baby, they’re surround by shepherds, and we don’t know Joseph’s reaction, but Luke tells us that Mary “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”
This brings me to this week’s theme: PONDER. The fourth week of Advent is a short 24 hours, but take a moment to ponder the miracle that we are about to experience.
Take a moment to ponder all you’ve been given.
Ponder what this Christmas will mean to you.
Take a moment to ponder what God is asking of you.
Written by Kristyn Russell, Coordinator of High School Youth Ministry