Before Mary had Jesus, she must have been subject to a certain amount of agony. Imagine how she felt when she found herself pregnant, while still unmarried. If, in this day and age, there is stigma associated with such, I cannot begin to fathom how bad things were back then.
I am sure that Mary often questioned herself if she really heard from God, and what would become of her and her pregnancy. Joseph, Mary’s husband to be, was mystified! He hadn’t touched her yet, but she was pregnant...Talk about strange!
After the Lord has explained to Joseph the reason why Mary was found suddenly pregnant, one would assume that Mary and Joseph would have rested in peace. Far from it! Heavily pregnant with Jesus, Mary was made to travel many miles away to Bethlehem to have her baby. The idea of travelling with a massive tummy in an aeroplane is traumatizing enough, let alone on a donkey’s back. I bet they even had to stop on the way many times while the donkey regained its strength and sanity!
So, they arrive in Bethlehem and suddenly, Mary is in labour. There is no electricity or warm water (I’m sure that if Mary was a Nigerian woman like me, she would have protested- after all, she was carrying the KING of KINGS hello?!!).
Anyway, with no midwife, comfy hospital bed, or even a hot towel to dry her sweating brows, Mary and her husband endure the anguish to give birth to Jesus.... then they try to rest and make sense of all that’s happening to them... BUT! The Lord came to Joseph in a dream to warn them that Herod was on the move, seeking to destroy baby Jesus. Once again, Joseph is on the move. Mary, his wife has barely healed of the birthing experience and now they were on the move again. (Poor donkey just regained his senses too!)
Then fast forward two thousand years later! And here we are... enjoying the plentiful privileges love and amazing grace of Jesus. Mary endured for the few weeks to try to understand what kind of baby she would be having, and then she suffered the distress of his growing up... I am sure many of her friends gossiped about her and her ‘weird son’. Then her beloved child was killed in the most painful way that defies human understanding.... Mary carried a treasure that was hidden until she gave birth. The treasure, Jesus was hidden until he came out at the wedding of Cana! Suddenly, questions began to fly: “What manner of man is this?” they wondered. “Oh wow! Even the Winds and the seas obey him” they exclaimed. Jesus was truly an amazement. He still is! Hallelujah.
His death gave birth to the most precious of all gifts: eternal life. Because he died, we all have access to God. We have an eternal life. We can actually look forward to something else apart from this world. Now, stop to think for a minute...What’s your hidden treasure? What has God deposited in that beautiful spirit of yours to glorify his kingdom?
Are you walking in accordance to his plan for your life? What have you done for this Jesus in return? Have you shared his word with another? Or do you just let it slide... why don’t you be like Mary and Joseph today? Thankfully we don’t use donkeys anymore! They did everything humanly possible to protect their hidden treasure. They endured questions, assumptions and probable abuse, but they did not mind. Why, because they knew that their coal was being polished to become a beautiful diamond someday. If you don’t know your treasure, why don’t you go digging? Buried somewhere inside of every one of God’s children is a gold mine of gifts and talents, waiting to be discovered.
So, if you have lost track of where you are and what you should be doing for Jesus in return, search deep within you. Look hard and you will find it.
Ask your Father to show you it. It’s there, trust me.
bimbyladsxxx
a growing worshipper
