She, Herself & God
Mary’s Spiritual Mindedness
“Then He returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And His mother stored all these things in her heart. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.” (Luke 2: 51-52)
When my father was still alive, I could not understand the way he did life and how he responded to certain situations. I could not understand why he forgave so easily that he would totally forget every damage done to him. I could not understand why he was always the first to say sorry to the point that he would even apologize on behalf of others despite the fact that he was not the one who made a mistake in the first place. I could not understand why he could bravely tell people to hurt him when he knew that they were mad at him and how he would not dare to fight back even if he had the advantage. I could not understand why he was not into financial and material investments at all unlike most men and most fathers. I could not understand why he was never worried about tomorrow and why he could sleep peacefully despite the poverty that we used to experience. I could not understand why he was not afraid to die; in fact, he loved to die as if it was the best thing that could happen to him. But after reading this verse, I realised there were only two words that could answer all my questions about my father, how he did life, and how he responded to certain situations: spiritual mindedness.
All the teachings in the Bible about forgiveness, humility, non-retaliation, spiritual investments, contentment, and eternal life were stored in my father’s heart that was why he was forgiving, he did not hesitate to say sorry, he did not take revenge, he did not invest in worldly things, he lived in the present with peace and joy, and he was ready to die any time. Sadly, I only understood it when he was gone, when he is just a memory that will never happen again, and when his life is already considered a lesson learned because my father died last Christmas, right on the day that the world is remembering the birth of the greatest Turning Point in the history of mankind. Interestingly, Christ is the Reason why we celebrate Christmas; but at the same time, someone else played an important role in His life who made Christmas more memorable. As it is written in the Scriptures, the young Jesus was an obedient Child to His parents despite being the Messiah; and His mother stored all these things in her heart. Just by rereading this verse, I realised there were only two words that could explain how someone like Mary was able to raise the Lord’s only begotten Son, who grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people: spiritual mindedness.
How about you? What is your take on spiritual mindedness? And who comes first to your mind when speaking about this characteristic? Do you agree that Mary was a spiritually minded person? What made her one, by the way? Looking back on CHRISTory, we know that Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit because Mary was still a virgin when she became pregnant with Him. After giving birth, the shepherds visited Mary and her husband Joseph to worship the Son of God. We can also recall another gospel sharing the story of the magi who visited them and offered gifts to the Savior. The second chapter of Luke further tells us that after Christ was presented in the temple, Simeon and Anna the prophetess recognized that He was the Messiah. Moreover, when Jesus attended the Passover festival in Jerusalem at the age of twelve, He stayed behind His parents and was found three days later sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. This was the time that Christ was surprised when His mother was worried about Him, for He reminded her that He must be in His Father’s house. And these were the things that Mary stored in her heart while raising the Savior.
As a woman of God, each of us should be like Mary, who set her mind on the things of the Spirit and abstain from the things of the flesh. She may have been pregnant with Jesus, but her husband knew her not until she gave birth as commanded by the angel of the Lord. She may not have fully understood it all in an instant, but she was not a forgetful hearer; for she remembered all the things concerning her Child and waited patiently for God to fulfill what He had promised to her. She, too, may have had her moments of fear, doubts, and confusion, but she endured to the end; for she relied on the Lord alone and remained open to the Spirit of God to do the full work in her life. She may have been a typical human being like us who made mistakes from time to time, but she chose to still be led by the Lord, to meditate on the things of the Spirit, and to be submissive, obedient, faithful, and pious through it all. So as we celebrate the Savior’s birth this week, let us have a “Mary Christmas” and remember as well the woman that God had used as an instrument for our salvation.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for teaching us to be spiritually minded like Mary even if we are still in our sinful nature. We thank You more for sending Your only begotten Son to redeem us and to reconcile us to You despite our sins. Your gift of salvation is the ultimate Christmas gift we have ever received; and for that, we will always be thankful. May we always follow the example of Mary so that we can honor You in our lives. And may we set our minds too on the things of the Spirit so that we can please You and make You smile not only this Christmas but in every day we live. Please allow us to stay in Your divine presence so that we can commune with the Holy Spirit and store Your Word in our hearts just like what Mary did while raising the Messiah. All these we pray in the Name of the real Reason for the Christmas season: our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
