Connecting the Dots...

Hello, come in.

A few years ago, I wrote a book called A Christmas Ancestry, where I shared things that happened in my journey—my cancer journey, my spiritual journey. A lot of things happened that were significant. The concept of the book was the scarlet thread in scripture, or what I likened to those books we used to buy our children where every page was full of dots. Part of the discovery was to join the dots in the right sequence. Most times they were numbered, then a picture appeared, and then that picture could be colored in. The kids had a lot of fun with that.

And so it is with the Christmas story, where we find Mary. Shepherds come to speak to her. An angel comes to speak to her, to explain that she's been chosen by God, that she's favored by God. After this revelation is given to her, it says in scripture that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.

The word "ponder" can also be translated as "connect."

What the scripture is telling us is that Mary took every piece of information that she received, every piece of revelation, and she connected the dots. She took the time to contemplate, to ponder, and create a picture. How is this going to happen? What's Joseph going to say? What are the neighbors going to say? And how is this even going to happen? She's joining the dots, and she's getting a picture, a revelation of what God is sending.

This is the advice I want to give to all of us today—to encourage us. Each dot, each thought that we listen to, let's join them together so that at the end of it, our goal is to have a full or fuller picture of Jesus, who He is—God in the flesh.

Thanks for joining us. See you tomorrow.