God's Word for Me Today
Monday, October 8, 2001
Focus: Our Mission: Equipping Christians in Western Pennsylvania
A note about online study
Introduction to God's Word for Me Today
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, my desire is to grow more like Jesus every day, to be equipped to love You more and to serve faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit. Fill me anew with Your Spirit this day. Write Your word on my heart this day that I may not sin against You. Open opportunities for me to tell others of Your great love and goodness. All these things I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word for Me Today: Luke 2:41-52
41 Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. 43 After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn't miss him at first, 44 because they assumed he was with friends among the other travelers. But when he didn't show up that evening, they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they couldn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. 46 Three days later they finally discovered him. He was in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, discussing deep questions with them. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 His parents didn't know what to think. "Son!" his mother said to him. "Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere." 49 "But why did you need to search?" he asked. "You should have known that I would be in my Father's house." 50 But they didn't understand what he meant. 51 Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them; and his mother stored all these things in her heart. 52 So Jesus grew both in height and in wisdom, and he was loved by God and by all who knew him.
Questions for Reflection
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
Have you ever been lost, or separated from family members while on a trip? What happened?
In what area of your life are you learning or growing the most right now? What is causing that learning or growth?
Questions for Exploration
Why did it take a whole day for Jesus’ parents to realize that he was missing? (2:41-44)
Where did Mary and Joseph eventually find Jesus? What was He doing? (2:45-50)
How did Jesus respond to His parents and others after He returned home with them to Nazareth? (2:51-52)
Questions for Understanding
What is the significance of this passage for telling us Jesus’ relationship to His parents and His extended family?
What does Luke mean when he tells us that Jesus grew in both “height and wisdom” and was “loved by God and by all who knew Him.”?
Questions for Application
Jesus was the Son of God and yet we’re told that he “grew in height and wisdom”. Thus even for the Son of God growth was a necessary life process. Measuring physical growth (height, weight) is easy. What do you do to measure spiritual growth in your life? Be specific.
Our goal as a congregation is to equip Christians in Western Pennsylvania to transform the world by living “irresistible lifestyles” and carrying out “influential works of service.” Make a commitment to serve one person today in Jesus’ name. It may be as small as giving a brother or sister a glass of water (or milk!). Or it may be something much more challenging. The key is to carrying out such an act in Jesus’ name.
The “Examined” Life
Aristotle is purported to have said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If that statement is true for philosophers, it is infinitely more so for those who bear the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus invested every day of His life on earth being equipped with God’s Word, praying, sharing His Good News and love with others. We’re told that Jesus grew “both in height and in wisdom and was loved by God and all who knew Him.” Jesus life was committed to making an eternal difference. While He was the Son of God, the principles we read about today are the same for us as they were for Him. Physical growth will take place so long as we give our bodies the necessary nutrition. We grow in wisdom only by intentionally filling ourselves with God’s Word, with information from the world around us and as we ask God to increase our wisdom. In the book of James we’re reminded: “5If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5-6 We must be intentional about the pursuit of wisdom.
In addition to growing in wisdom Jesus was loved by God and people. That’s because He loved God and people. Jesus received love from His Heavenly Father and shared it with people. That’s our calling as well. While our focus is on being equipped to bring the Good News of Jesus to folks in western Pennsylvania, and one component of that equipping is wisdom, there’s an old saying that applies here: “People don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.” Jesus’ wisdom exceeded anyone’s who had ever lived. Yet it was his love and compassion that healed the sick, raised the dead, and ultimately held Him to the cross in our place. Love and wisdom are a powerful combination – one that can overcome the world!
To view the studies for other days, visit the God's Word for Me Today calendar.