Every year....we celebrate the start of another year. Every year...we decide it's a year of new beginnings. Every year...we vow that we are going to improve ourselves. There are always things we do every year...Mary and Joseph were no different.
"Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual." Luke 2:41-42
There are things we do "every year" or "as usual" just like Mary and Joseph. We go to church...as usual. We go to work...as usual. We raise our kids...as usual. We go shopping...as usual. We go to a basketball game. as usual. The problem with "as usual" is we can find ourselves in a rut. And what happens when we get in a rut?...
"After celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn't miss him at first because they assumed he was among the other travelers."
Luke 2:43-44
We, too, start going down our own path without Jesus. We started doing life without Jesus.
Most of the time its not intentionally, we just do "the usual" "every year" assuming Jesus is in everything we do all the time. Yet we find ourselves....
-Making decisions without praying
-Going throughout our day not talking to God one time
-Buying things without asking God first
-Parenting our children without asking God, our father, how
-Seeking approval from people instead from God
-Making plans without consulting the Plan maker
Like Jesus' parents, at first, we don't miss him but sooner or later we find ourselves in a rut and we realize Jesus hasn't been an active part of our lives in quite some time.
So how do we get out?
"But when he didn't show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they couldn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there." Luke 2:44-45
The first thing they did was "started looking for him". The bible teaches us "if you seek him, you will find him." We get in a rut is when we stop seeking God and we get out of a rut when we start. Start seeking God in the grocery line, the football field, the carpool line, the "can't get along with" coworker, the annoying friend that is always on your back, the mirror that seems to be so critical of you each and every morning. Seek God the Father through your relationship with God the Son. Seek God-Find yourself.
The second thing they did was search for God "among their relatives and friends". We have to surround ourselves with people that want the same things we do as a followers of Christ. We need friends and family who will push us, challenge us, and hold us accountable in our personal walk with Jesus. The Bible teaches us that "2 or better than 1 for they have good return for their work. For if one falls down, they have someone to pick them up. But pity the man that falls down and has no one to pick them up." We were not meant to go through this life alone and going through ruts will happen, but when we have Jesus loving friends and family around us they pick us up, dust us off, and say it's time to get back in the game.
The last thing they did was turn from the path they were on and "went back to Jerusalem"... In Revelation 2, Jesus says "You don't love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first." We have to go back and do the the things we did at first when we experienced Jesus for the first time. Pray, read God's word, pray, go to church, pray, join a bible study, pray, listen to christian music, pray, have dates with Jesus...oh, and pray.
Each year, God shows me a word that is "our word" throughout the whole year. This year, God has given me "intentional." I want to be intentional in everything I do, in every day I live, and in every relationship I am in. I want to do all the "usual" things, but do them with Jesus. How about you?
