When you were little, did your mom put your school papers on the refrigerator to celebrate your accomplishments? My mom did and I did the same for my children. My refrigerator was always filled with crayon colorings, paintings and stories when Sam and Laura were in elementary school. I still have a few pieces of artwork on the side of my refrigerator because I can’t bear to take them down.
Sam came home this week with a 100 on a calculus test. He studied for hours and wasn’t sure how he was going to do. I put it up on the refrigerator and we celebrated. We could have just said, “Great job” and sent him upstairs to study for finals, but instead we paused and celebrated all of his hard work paying off. He laughed, but I know it blessed him. I will never forget the look on my 16 year old’s face as we celebrated him and I feel certain he will remember it also.
In Luke 2:19 we read “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Mary had a lot to take in over a few days. There was no way to process it all or even respond to it. She took time to soak it all in and ponder it.
So many of us, me included, rush through life and don’t take time to ponder. It is only when we take time that we discover treasures the Lord has for us. If we go rushing through life working through our agenda without looking up we miss a lot. We all need to learn to take time to ponder and discover the treasures along the way.
I’m not talking about materialist treasures here. Our world is too caught up in that pursuit. I’ve seen bumper stickers that read “He who dies with the most toys wins!” Well, he who dies with the most toys still dies and depending on how he lived his life on earth, he’ll discover if he really won or lost. Mark 8:36 says “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Yet we are all out there trying to conquer the world.
God promised the Israelites He would deliver them from Egypt to the Promised Land. They made many mistakes along the way¸ which led to God telling them to go into the Promised Land without Him. Moses responded in Exodus 33:15. “Then Moses said to Him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.’” Beth Moore put it this way, “The Promised Land is no land of promise without God.” The real treasures in life cannot be bought or sold, but they take time and must be experienced and pondered. The real treasure in life comes from above. It isn’t something you earn. It is a gift received.
It’s time to slow down, step out of the rat race and soak in what is going on around you. Look for treasure, because the Lord has placed it everywhere. It simply takes time to locate it and you never find it when you live life in the fast lane.