Strong, wise and influenced

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

STRONG, WISE AND INFLUENCED

Luke 2:39-40

39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

NIV

We are given one brief sentence about the life of Jesus from the time he is a baby of eight days old until he is a child of twelve. We have no information about what happened in between except that he was taken back to Nazareth where Joseph and Mary lived, and that he grew and became strong, and that he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Thinking about the average child of between the ages of birth and twelve we generally do not think of them as filled with wisdom. We could conclude, however the grace of God might well be upon all children except this grace is that ‘charis’ grace which is the divine influence upon the heart and how it is reflected in the life. So in the case of Jesus, even as a child of up to the age of twelve he was reflecting the influence of God upon him. Although this is Jesus we are seeing here, it would be wise of us to follow his example. First we should be growing strong, and it is implied in spirit. Certainly Jesus was not lifting weights, building body mass and muscle for some strong man contest. He was growing strong in spirit. This is the kind of growing we should all be doing. We cannot be content with the present strength in the spirit we have, but we should continue to grow stronger and stronger. This is not necessarily all our own efforts either. As we yield more and more to the Spirit we grow stronger and stronger in our spirit. This also helps us in our being filled with wisdom. Certainly reading the scriptures would seem to be the way to wisdom, which it may well be, but it can also simply lead to an intellectual knowledge of scripture. It is generally known that knowledge is the accumulation of facts and data that we have learned about or experienced. It’s being aware of something and having information. Knowledge is really about facts and ideas that we acquire through study, research, investigation, observation, or experience. Wisdom on the other hand is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge are true, right, lasting and applicable to our lives. It is the ability to apply that knowledge to the great scheme of life. It is also deeper, knowing the meaning or reason about knowing why something is, and want it means to our life. This comes from knowing the scriptures and being able to discern it’s meaning in our life, understanding the truths within. This is all included in the grace of God, in his divine influence on our heart, as well as our learning to listen to the voice of the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us in that understanding. To be like Jesus is far more than doing good deeds to others, it is growing, being strong in spirit, and filled with wisdom as we are influenced by God.