“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go up to this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people.’ ” Numbers 27:12-13.
Moses knew that his time on earth was growing short as he looked over into the Promised Land that he would never enter. What did he feel? Sorrow? Remorse? Gratitude? Peace? I am not sure, but I imagine that he considered those long years of toil and duress, deliverance and wandering. God was making and molding his people all that time and all the while calling Moses into an intimacy with Him that terrified others. What did Moses treasure his last hours on earth? I think it was his friendship with God, his family and friends and his love for a stubborn people.
Luke gave us a peek into Mary’s head and heart:
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
“But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Luke 2:19…51
The wonder of God made man, her son Jesus, must have filled her right up to her last days and carried her through the darkest of times. Jesus taught about treasures:
” Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
What I ponder, what I treasure defines me. It fills me, be it positive or negative. Painful times may come, as they did for Moses and Mary, but that which they treasured is what I remember them for.
Lord, capture my heart and attention so that you are my treasure. Cause me to “ponder” and wonder at who you are and how you move. Keep my affections from wandering off to places where they don’t belong. May I be filled with your joy and gratitude for what is real, what is true, You.
Klueh
Sixty-six books in a year 