As a final goodbye to a pick that most Vikings fans believe was a mistake, { :D } the word for this week is "pondered"! It's found only once in the Bible in Luke 2:19:
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
This is the Greek word "sumballo". Strong's Concordance says : to throw together; to bring together; to converse; to bring together in one's mind; to confer with oneself. The angel Gabriel had revealed to Mary that the Son she would bear would be called the Son of God, and that He would one day rule as a King (Luke 1). Now these shepherds came saying that angels had spoken to them and declared that a Saviour had been born! She, at that time, could not comprehend what this all meant, but she didn't dismiss it as nonsense. Instead, she set these thoughts off to the side in her mind and would bring them back to think on from time to time. We KNOW that she did NOT understand what all of this meant then because later on in the ministry of Jesus, she and her other children came to bring Jesus home because they were concerned about him (Mark 3:21 and 31. All of her "pondering" helped, though, because she was right there in the upper room to be filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost! As you continue in your study and meditation of the Word, there will be times when something you read or hear being taught doesn't really make sense. If you will "ponder" these things, the Spirit of God will continue to show you what it means, bit by bit, until it begins to make perfect sense and you can stand on it and act on it! Isaiah 28:9-10 tells us that this is how we learn the Word:
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
WE are taking it "word upon word"! I love it! Here is an older song by Hillsong called "I Live To Know You":Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!
