This morning in Sunday School, we read Luke 2:41-52 ~ the story of Jesus as a boy going to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. I was privileged and excited to gain new insight on this passage!! Consider for a moment that this story just may be about us.
We go to worship because it is the customary thing to do. It’s what we grew up doing, and it is what is expected if you claim to follow God. Does practicing this custom have any deeper meaning for us? Or do we just go through the motions of being a good person? The Feast of the Passover is a celebration of freedom from slavery. Do we truly wish to be freed from those areas in our lives that enslave us? Do we truly wish to experience the joy and victory that comes from choosing Life with Christ? Or are there moments we kind of enjoy wallowing in our troubles, our miseries, our trials – using these things to make excuses for not behaving in a godly way?
After the Feast was over, Jesus’ parents left Jerusalem traveling for a day before realizing Jesus was not with them. Then they looked for Jesus among their relatives and friends, but they didn’t find Him. Sometimes in our walk of life, our worship is empty ~ we choose to walk away from His throne without taking Jesus with us into our daily lives. After awhile, we realize something is missing, and we start to look for Him around us instead of looking into His face and deep within our hearts ~ the center of worship. Sometimes, we seek Him only half-heartedly ~ not sure we really want Him to be the center of our lives. We know we need Him, but to be on the throne? Sometimes we really need to seek Him, be serious about our searching, before we can “find” Him. Through it all, Jesus can always be found in the temple at Jerusalem ~ on the throne ~ worthy of worship.
Then when we do find Him, we ask “Why have you treated us like this?” Didn’t You know we were looking for You? Why have YOU deserted us? Don’t You see how much pain I have? In reality, we were the ones who walked away from HIM. Jesus was there all along. He is not the One who has moved away from us. We just needed to re-focus our hearts back on Him to find Him.
To summarize, when I worship, I want to choose to worship because I deeply desire to be in God’s presence. When I focus my mind on the responsibilities that God has given to me, I want to take Him with me ~ seek His guidance in all things for every decision ~ ask Him to walk with me ~ to put Him on the throne to rule my heart, my life, my thoughts, my every action.
~ Lord, help me today to truly seek You, find You, walk every day with You, and deeply desire You to be on the throne of my heart.
his week, we experienced another one of those cold, blistery, and very windy, wintery days. Returning home, after bravely venturing out into that frigid air, I happened upon a trash dumpster that belonged to one of our neighbors. The wind had knocked it over blowing it into the middle of my side of the road. I passed it before reminding myself that to be truly neighborly, I should stop and return it to their driveway. It didn’t take much time to remedy the situation, but it would have been quite easy to drive around it and just leave it laying in the road for someone else to hit with their vehicle. This is an example of the simple acts of kindness that I desire to develop as a habit this year.
With so many folks unemployed or struggling financially these days, it seemed fitting and time to make a food donation. The church we attend operates a small food pantry supplying many families with a bag or two of groceries each month. Even if you are not able to donate much, by looking for the really good sales at the store, your donation is stretched and can at least help out a little. Consider finding a food pantry in your local area to donate a few non-perishable food items.
