Simple Kingdom - Seeking Jesus

We don’t often think about Jesus growing. The Gospels really only speak to Jesus’ birth and then to His public ministry and death and resurrection. But there is one story of Jesus as a pre-teen boy, which is the most awkward chapter of anyone’s life. We see a story of Jesus’ parents losing Him as they travel home from Jerusalem. When they return, they search for three days, and they find Him in the temple of God.When they find Him, He says to them: “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. There are multiple levels to this one phrase. First, even from an early age, Jesus understood His purpose in life was to be with His Father. This is long before He would walk on water or heal a leper or go to the cross. Jesus was faithful to His call to be one with His Father.We don’t often think about what kind of lifestyle Jesus lived as a child and teenager and young adult. He lived 30 years before He began His public ministry as the son (and most likely apprentice) of a carpenter. But during this time we’re told: Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. He lived each moment in faithful obedience to God the Father.We often chalk up all of Jesus’ character to His “God” side, and the “human” side was just the biological functions of being alive. But Jesus formed His character in the way all of us do - through consistent thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, and experiences. And what we see in this story is a person who is pursuing obedience to God above everything else.The second level to this is that most of us live our lives like Mary and Joseph on the way back to Nazareth. We have our own schedule, our own agendas and plans and purposes, and we’re walking down a road assuming Jesus is walking beside us. And it takes us a while to even notice He’s not with us, and then when we go searching for Him it takes us a while to look in the one place we should have always looked - with His Father. If we want to be formed like Jesus was formed, we must pursue life with God above all else. Instead of focusing on our own plans and purposes, we should ask - what does it look like for me to spend each moment this day with Jesus? Instead of “what does God want me to do with my life”, we should ask - what kind of character does God want to form in me? And then in each moment of our lives seek after faithful obedience to Him, so we too may grow in wisdom and in favor with God and man.