...and keep it

And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.  – Luke 11.27-28

Jesus’s mother, Mary, was a very blessed and special woman. She was chosen by God to be the mother of the Son of God. It was Mary who nursed Jesus and changed His nappy and cooked His meals and washed His hair and bathed Him and generally took care of Him. She did all of the motherly things. A certain respect for her apparently developed early on and remains to this day in some circles. In some circles it has moved beyond respect to veneration and even in some cases to worship.

Here a woman came up to Jesus and said to Him ‘blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts that nursed You.’

Jesus agreed, but added ‘even more blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.

That’s such a blessing, but it is also a challenge. Our great blessing comes, not when we only hear the word of God. Hearing the word is a good and great thing and it something we all should be striving to do.

We read of Ezra that he prepared his heart to seek the Lord – and to do it. James tells us that if we are not doers of the word we are fooling ourselves. Are we truly doing God’s word daily, or are we content to just know it on our  heads?