Do you have a favorite Christmas treasure? Maybe something that was given to you by a special someone?
Some of my favorite Christmas treasures are ornaments. Early on my wife started buying ornaments each year that would symbolize something of that year. We have our first ornament from our first Christmas as a married couple. We have an ornament for the birth of each of our children. There are different ornaments that commemorate something special about each of our children for each year.
It is fun to look at the tree each year and be flooded with memories of those special times in our lives and the lives of those nearest and dearest to us. Yes, for me the treasures of Christmas really revolve around the memories of the Christmas’ past and the fun of making memories in the present.
There are the memories of the yearly gingerbread house contest at our home. There are memories of trips to family where we are all sleeping in all parts of the house. There are memories of being shut in during a fierce snow storm in the Midwest. There are memories of game nights, puzzle building and cooking up everyone’s favorite foods.
There are also memories of pondering the Christmas story as it is read each year around the Christmas tree. In fact, there is a text there in the Christmas story in Luke 2:19 that says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
That first Christmas was one for the ages.
It is one where a first time mother that had just gone through carrying a baby for nine months, then went on a journey to Bethlehem for the census, then ended up in a dirty, dark and cold stable with farm animals to bring a new life into this world. In the rush of excitement, love and emotion of bringing a child into this world, she is visited by shepherds who have seen the angel chorus singing in the heavens. That is a lot to treasure and ponder.
These are the same things that we can treasure as well. Immanuel-God with us. This is the most amazing treasure of all. It is a treasure that is more than ornamental that we take out and look at occasionally. It is a treasure that we take all throughout the year.
In this Christmas season, treasure the memories that you have and that you make with family. But most of all, treasure Jesus all year long. He certainly treasures you.