Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Treasured Christ-child

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Luke 2:40-52
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Nazareth. And the child grew strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

When Jesus was twelve years old the family went to the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem, as was their custom. After the Feast was over the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem ... They went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Jesus said, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

John leaped in his mother's womb when he felt the presence of Jesus, just barely conceived. The shepherds came and fell at his feet. The wise men did the same things a few weeks later. Simeon and Anna both recognized his messiah-ness when he was only eight days old. As Luke writes, "the grace of God was upon him."

Now he is nearly a teenager, already an adolescent, full of spice and vinegar. He doesn't remember to come home with his parents, nor does he apologize. He is busy with more important things. Jesus may never have sinned, but he came pretty close here. At least his parents thought so. The fifth commandment did include them too, after all.

But I am thinking that Jesus was the son of not just his parents, but all the world. Everyone who encountered him loved him like their own. Along with awe and wonder, people felt a sense of ownership and attachment; Jesus was one of their own.

As he grew into a man, Jesus did more and more of this bringing together of the family of God. He was God's son, and so were the rest of us. We could be a family with Jesus in the center of it.

Of course many sought that center for themselves. They resented this interloper with Galilean blood. And far from feeling united with their brothers and sisters, they felt further away than ever.

Nothing much has changed. I can make either choice now just as I could have then. Am I going to acknowledge my part in this family, or am I going to ignore it-reject it-deny it-fight it?

God's family belongs to all of us, and we to it. And de-nial is not just a river in Egypt.

Every day is precious to you, Lord, because we are precious to you. And every day more of us die, never having known how much sons and daughters we were. The grief you feel must be immense and endless. I hesitate to ask, but please let me know just a little of that grief, and show me what to do.

Devotions Archive

Treasured Christ-child

Sunday, December 31, 2006