My Father's House

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

MY FATHER’S HOUSE

Luke 2:41-52

41 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43 After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 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." 49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"  50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

NIV

At twelve years of age, Jesus was already aware of who he was. He had to be in his Father’s house. Jesus knew he was the Son of God. Here is the lesson, or the takeaway, that we can learn from this. It is also right for us to be in our Father’s house, but that does not mean the church building. Although a typical church building includes a sanctuary where we gather to worship and hear a sermon. But this is for only one hour a week, and maybe two hours if we also attend some Sunday school class, which we might not consider as worship, or where we come to meet with the living God. However, we are told that we are the temple of the living God and that he dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. We are also told that we are being built into a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. This spiritual sacrifice is our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. This gives us the view that we are living in our Father’s house. This also means that we should be sitting among the teacher, listening to him, and asking him questions. That is, we should be learning from the Spirit who dwells in us, the house of our Father. This is the only way that people will be amazed at our understanding and our answers. This is not to diminish the knowledge of the world, but it does not contain the wisdom of God. We can learn all sorts of knowledge and even knowledge of the word of God, but that is not the same as listening to the wisdom of the Spirit who speaks into our hearts and minds. Even if we can quote the scriptures and know chapter and verse, it does not mean we are sitting among the teacher listening to him gaining His wisdom. However, we are still in our Father’s house as a living stone being built according to the pleasure of God. Therefore, as he moves within us, building us based on the stone the worldly builders have rejected, but is our cornerstone, so that everything in us is in perfect alignment with Jesus. Hence, we are always, constantly living in our Father’s house, so in one sense we are not just meeting with the living God in the sanctuary of the church building, but the Living God is dwelling within us so that we are our Father’s house.