Understanding

   "Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house?" Luke 2:49 (R.V.)

   The story that Chambers uses in his reading for today is a familiar one. Mary and Joseph, Jesus earthly parents, are returning home from a Passover trip to Jerusalem when they realize that Jesus is not with them on the journey. They return to the city and, after 3 days, find Him in the Temple, talking with the scribes. From the narrative in Luke's Gospel, they do not understand His answer to their question of why He stayed behind, that He must be in His Father's House.

   It seems that Mary and Joseph had spent the previous years, between the miraculous birth of Jesus and this moment, in the process of watching their son grow up in a very ordinary way. The days, weeks, months and years of taking care of Jesus had dulled their minds and hearts to the fact that He was special. He was the Son of the Most High, living in their house, but he grew up in an ordinary way, just like the other kids in the neighborhood.

   As a Christian, I say that Christ lives with me and in me, yet I don't comprehend what that means. I accept that as a truism, but do not live as though it were true. So much of my life is just lived in the ordinary.

   We have been living this past week on a vacation with all our family. Also for the past couple of days, our two grand daughters from Virginia have been at our home. The days have been, and still are, filled to the brim with family, without much thought of God in our lives, with the exception of gratitude for the blessings, that we as a family, enjoy.

   Would Jesus ask me the question that He asked his parents, "Do you know what I am really about in your life and in your world?"

   Sadly, my response would be the same as theirs, they did not understand.

   Lord, help me to see beyond the ordinary, as much as I like it, to the things you want to accomplish in my life, even today.