Scripture:
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Luke 2:52
Observation:
In all of Luke 2, we see Jesus not only born but men traveling to see him, people knowing who he was and heavenly host worshiping at his coming and even him and his family traveling to Jerusalem to obey the law and observe time in their history and faith. In this passage at the end, I find it interesting, especially how I react and live my life a lot of the time.
Application:
So many times I find myself saying, “I do not care what others think or say about me because only God can judge me.” There is some truth in that fear of what others think or will say when I am operating in obedience to what God has said should not dictate my actions. There is a thin line in this realm of thought though. Jesus was not only in favor of God but also in favor with man. Now, I am not saying that I live my life based on finding favor with man and doing all to please man. I am saying that opposite. I am saying that when we are obedient to what God has called us to and we see us in the favor of God I believe that what God has called us to simply puts us in the favor of man most of the time. What God has called us to is to love. God has called us to live out what Jesus did and radically change the world by loving God and our neighbor. That should change the life on anyone in the path of that. This is convicting to me as I don’t find favor with a man a lot of the time because I am not truly loving people and not does not find favor with God or man.
Prayer:
Father, please lead me to follow you and walk in obedience to you and your Word. May your favor be what I am thankful for and allow you to be my light and passion to change the world as your Son did. I love you Lord and I am so thankful you saved me and revealed what you revealed.