Luke 2:39-40

Luke 2:39-40

And as they finished all these things according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee into their city of Nazareth.  And the child was growing and was becoming strong while being filled by wisdom.  And the grace of the Lord was upon Him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Once more we hear Mary and Joseph connected with the theme of obedience.  They did what was expected of them in the Lord.  They fulfilled the requirements of the Law.  They were good parents.  They may not have been important people in the eyes of the world, but they were certainly noticeable in their obedience to God.  No wonder He chose them to be responsible for raising His own Son!

Are you obedient?  Do you do what you should when God expects it of you?  What do you do well with respect to obedience?

Second Thought:

I’m going to write a point that I’m not sure how much I’ll agree with it at the end of the paragraph.  So we’ll see about it when it comes out.  But I find it interesting that Mary and Joseph return home to Nazareth after dedicating Jesus.  They go back to their normal lives.  I think the reason that I initially chafe against this point is that it seems so anticlimactic.  We think that when we devote ourselves to the work of God we’ll be living a highly spiritual and exciting life as we convert the world!  But in reality, that just doesn’t happen.  Most of us are called into a normal life to live out our faith as normal people.  We have a few mountaintop experiences of faith, for which we are forever grateful.  But for most of us, the truth is that God is found in the mundane far more frequently.  I don’t mean to imply that we shouldn’t look for the special moments of growth and faith.  But we shouldn’t be afraid of going about a godly normal life while we journey from spiritual mountaintop to spiritual mountaintop.

Do you ever get frustrated when you are in a mundane part of life?  Do you think God ever calls us to live faithfully in the mundane?  What witness can this have to the people around us?

Third Thought:

Jesus grew and became strong.  The grace of the Lord was upon Him.  Sometimes I read verses like this and I can’t help but think, “Duh!  He’s the Son of God!”  What else would Jesus do beside grow, becomes strong, and know the grace of the Lord?  I think that the key to this verse is the focus on wisdom.  What happens when we draw close to the Lord?  We grow in wisdom.  What happens when our faith becomes strong?  We grow in wisdom.

What role does wisdom play in your life?  When have you grown in wisdom?  How do you grow in wisdom?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 2:41-45