Mary must have had a lot of time on her hands. No doubt she sat near the manger, in an idyllic pose, pondering, right?

My guess is no. Joseph had to find a place to live and work to make money to keep a roof over their heads and food in their cupboard. Mary needed a means to clean up her baby boy, not just after birth, but every time he needed to be cleaned. Those swaddling clothes wouldn’t stay clean for long. Water must be fetched, food must be made, and how does one keep a manger clean?

Mary pondered because she took the time to ponder.

To ponder means to think carefully about something. Its Latin root is “to weigh” or “to reflect on.” The old French means “to consider.” Mary considered, weighed, reflected on all God was doing around her.

Sometimes we ruminate on all the wrong things. We notice the ways the people around us aren’t carrying their weight. We consider the sin in this world and the apathy of people who could do something about it. Circumstances, the never-ending laundry or dishes, the illness, the shrinking paycheck, weigh us down.

The apostle Paul suggests we avoid that. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke about worry, something that consumes a lot of us a lot of the time. After commanding us not to worry and giving us good reason not to worry, he concluded by saying, “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33).

First seek God.

How different would our days be if we were to seek God first?

I have an hour-long commute to work. During the last ten minutes of the commute I put a Christian worship song on, because I’ve noticed that if I do, that song goes through my head all day long.

Reading the Bible right away in the morning sets the tone for the day. Today my reading from 1 Timothy was about avoiding distractions and godless chatter (social media!) and instead focusing on and teaching what is true. Hours later, it is still shaping the direction of my day.

We fall into bad habits, but seeking requires action. You can seek wealth or power or fame or entertainment, but they often leave us as empty as we started.

God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

When you seek God, you will find him. The effort is rewarded every time.

And what do we get out of it? God’s love is everlasting. It doesn’t wax and wane depending on our attitude or energy. And we’re told God “…will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast” (Isaiah 26:3). Perfect (absolute, complete) peace is ours even in the midst of chaos. And if any of us lacks wisdom (insight as to what to do), James tells us God will freely give it (James 1:5). He does that as we open his Word.

When we don’t make time for God, we are giving ourselves over to the craziness and delusions of the world, the frantic pace, the never-ending striving, the “never enough” mentality.

When we step back and look at it objectively, on the scales of life, it’s so clear to see God lifts us up, encourages us, and gives us strength to endure. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh drag us down, leave us spinning in negative thoughts and habits, and leave us empty.

Pray. Open the Bible. Worship. They’re the most important things you do each day.