“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” PROVERBS 22:6 NIV


Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Fathers house?”
LUKE 2:41-49 NIV

These are the first recorded words of Jesus. He was a young boy of twelve years old. The King James uses the words Father business instead of Father house. Neither one is in the Greek that Luke wrote, but Strongs Greek dictionary says that the word affairs was added to make it clearer. Before when I read this account of the boy Jesus getting lost from his parents I often thought of disobedience or a child that was being disrespectful to his parents. Today I come away with a different view as I search the Greek for meaning in some of the words. The history of twelve-year-old Jewish boys is different than what we might think. Share this with me from the Dake Bible, “At this age every boy became a ‘son of the law.’ Joseph fulfilled the law by paying 5 shekels in redemption money, which gave him the legal rights of ‘father,’ claiming the obedience of the boy.” It is almost like children being drafted into the church, but the parents could buy their way out. My guess is that children that were not redeemed by the 5 shekels had to stay in service to the temple. The word that really jumped out at me is the word used for “boy” in the boy Jesus. That Greek word is pais. It’s meaning is a child; specifically, a slave or servant, especially a minister to a king. For me this puts a different concept on the twelve-year old Jesus. He was of age to be a servant to the King, he was of age to be of service to God. His answer to his parents was not disrespectful, but honest.
Reading this scripture today has reminded me of the time when I was twelve years old. Last week I took a trip to San Antonio Texas where I spent the entire twelfth year of my life. I visited the streets that I used to roam as a young boy. At that time my life was in shambles, my parents were getting a divorce, and there was a raging going on inside of me that had no outlet. If only I could have been of service to Jesus. At twelve years old I smoked, drank, cussed, and was looking at pornography. Seeds were planted in those days that grew and grew. Twenty-five years later Jesus was able to trim away the negative harvest of those days. If only I could have been of service to Jesus back then. Today I am grateful that Jesus and I have a personal relationship, and that I have strength to draw from at all times. Strength that is not my own, but of a Power that is much greater than myself. God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………..JRE

I CHOOSE JOY………………..
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…….the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.” MAX LUCADO

Any problem as an opportunity to see God, that speaks to me……………JRE