A Time of Storing Memories

As the days fly by and the seasons change, we are given the privilege of watching our babies grow. To be able to see all the little changes from day to day and the big changes that seem to all most happen overnight. My baby will be nine in one month and I’m so thankful for how God has worked our family, so that, even when we thought our world was crumbling He was providing us the opportunities to raise our baby the way we want to.
I recently came across Luke chapter 2 again. I know I’ve read this chapter many times over but something jumped out at me a little differently this time. The chapter deals with the Christ's birth and the two times we are allowed to see Jesus taken to the temple to worship. At the time of his circumcision and as a pre-teen who scared his mama and daddy and stayed in Jerusalem listening and talking to the teachers. I guess I have always gotten caught up in the end of the chapter, but this time it was the middle that caught my attention.
God introduces us to two very faithful, hardworking Jews: Simeon and Anna. They were both well advanced in age and were awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.
Beginning in Luke 2:25, we get the background that Simeon had been waiting for Christ to come and had been promised that he would see Him. When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple the Holy Spirit had Simeon there and waiting.
Luke 2:27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, :28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said :29 "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; :30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation :31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, :32 A light to [bring] revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.":33 And Joseph and His mother [fn] marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
I love the part where we’re told that His parents marveled at the things that were being spoken. It seems as new parents, we marvel at every little detail and we store those memories up. Here was God saying, this is My son and He will do wonderful things. As mamas, we love to hear sweet precious words spoken to our children, but sometimes there are moments that just stand out in the haze of sleepless nights and dirty diapers. For Joseph and Mary this was one of those times. In Luke 2:34-35, Simeon goes on to tell Mary that her baby is destined to be the rise and fall of many in Israel and that a sword will pierce her soul, so that the hearts of many may be revealed. I think about this and know that this had to be one of those moments that she hid away in her heart.
Then God introduces us to a woman of great faith, she was widowed early and spent the rest of her life serving in the temple and was known to be a prophetess, and she comes in as Simeon is blessing Jesus and she gives God praise for allowing her to see the Messiah. And speaks of Him to all who are interested in redemption. It is after all of this takes place that Joseph and Mary go home and spend 12 years raising Jesus.
Her mama’s heart must have been full on that trip home, recounting the things that were said that day and all that had led up to His birth. She knew she was raising God’s son and that he had a job to do. But she also dealt with him as a toddler, a little boy, and what seems to be a very precocious preteen. Luke 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, [fn] filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Luke 2:41-52, gives us the account of the family traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, and how Jesus stays behind to listen and question the teachers in the temple. Can you imagine just how scared His mama and daddy had to be. (I know when mine just barely gets out of eye shot I go nuts). I know I wouldn’t have been sure which I would have wanted to do first: hug and kiss Him, or beat Him for worrying me. When they ask him what he thought he was doing scaring them this way, he answered Luke 2:49 And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" We’re told in the next verse that they didn’t understand his statement. I can only imagine that as we get caught up in the day to day routine of parenting that His beginning could have felt surreal enough for them to not understand that He was talking about His Father’s business, not his daddy’s. I can get that and I think that it would be very easy to do. I mean do we get so busy with school, ball, Scouts, play dates, clean rooms, and the daily grind that we forget to show our babies how to be about the Father’s business.
Luke 2:51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.
This is one of my favorite verses. She kept all these things in her heart. Can you only imagine that as he left carpentry and began His ministry that she didn’t look back on the things that Simeon and Anna said the first time they took Him to the temple. As she watched Him suffer and die on the cross, don’t you think that the words of Simeon came back to her “ a sword shall pierce your soul”. I can’t begin to imagine the torture in her soul as she watched her Baby die for a crowd shouting for His death, and knowing that He was their salvation. I would have wanted to scratch and tear the eyes out of those who spoke so cruelly as He suffered. Maybe, it was the store house of memories that helped her through it. Surely, His placing her in John’s care would have offered some comfort, but I would have wanted to yell and scream, weep and wail at the injustice of it all. Yet, she played the part God gave her. She, as a virgin, delivered the Messiah to a world in desperate need of Him, and just as the prophets spoke of His birth, they also foretold his death.
Let’s take the time to store up memories in our hearts as we watch our babies grow. Let’s feed them the word of God and help them to drink the water of service, and let’s prepare them for a world that will wound them and so in turn wound us. Let’s listen to their sweet voices as they share their dreams with us. Let’s pray and hold fast to the knowledge that with Christ’s help they WILL overcome the trials and tribulations of this world. Let’s train them to live each day as if it were there last and each moment a gift so precious that it’s a sin to waste them. May we train our babies to look for the good in others and to stand firm in the faith. I know if we do our jobs and our babies do theirs then this life is just an intermission in eternity and whether we are granted the opportunity to watch them grow old and have children of their own, or they leave this world before us…We CAN KNOW that we WILL spend eternity with them. So store up those memories, the ones others give us to hold onto about our babies, and the words they speak to us. We never know when those things that we hide away in our hearts will be what sees us through this life to the next.
May God bless us as we raise our babies and may He help us see clearly the things we need to do and say.