December 7, 2023 | Miami, Florida, United States | Leonard Johnson, executive secretary, Inter-American Division
In the Word of God, we find the expression I must. What do I mean by this? It suggests something that you have to do. There was really no option in the case of Christ I find in Luke’s Gospel Chapter 2 and verse 49. I must be about my father’s business. From this passage, it is very clear to me, Jesus knew his purpose.
He knew why he came. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. I ask you the question today. Do you know your purpose? Do you know your mission? Do you know why you exist? Every single person has a purpose, whether he or she knows it. The drunkard on the street, the person sometimes we are very much inclined to dismiss and to abandon.
Let me tell you, those individuals have purpose, value and meaning. But let’s come back to the setting here in Luke’s Gospel Chapter 2. It was during the time of the annual Feast of Passover. The parents of Jesus, like the others, had made their way to Jerusalem for this special occasion. And as they would come together, people would talk, people would converse. And in the process of this, the meaning of the occasion was lost, but not to Jesus at a tender age of 12. He started to understand his purpose and his meaning.
Ellen White tells us this in the book Desire of Ages (page 78). “For the first time, the child Jesus looked upon the temple. He saw the white robe priests performing their solemn ministry. He beheld the bleeding victim upon the altar of sacrifice. With the worshipers, He bowed in prayer while the cloud of incense ascended before God, He witnessed the impressive rites of the past school service. Day by day. He saw their meaning more clearly. Every act seemed to be bound up with his own life.
Can you imagine? At a tender age of 12, Jesus understood the calling of His father upon his life. He understood his mission that like that lamb being sacrificed, that he would be the lamb of God.
I am so grateful for this gift that God has given us in Jesus Christ. But I’m also grateful for the fact that Jesus recognized His mission. It is so important that we understand at what time it is, that we recognize all that is going on around us because we can be caught up in the moment of the hour, the moment of the day, and really forget even Christ, like in the case of his parents, they would travel three days before they would realize that Jesus was not with them when they caught up with him, like parents the mother said. Your father and I were looking for you. But Jesus said, Don’t you know that I must be about my father’s business? As if to say you ought to have known?
Today I challenge you. Let us not forget Jesus. Let us not forget to take time to pray. Time to make time to read his word and time to fellowship. A time for family.
May God bless you. As you recall your purpose and the plan God has for your life today.