Luke 2: 41-46 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of
the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they
went up to the festival, according to the custom. After
the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus
stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was
in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him
among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went
back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the
temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them
questions.
We are familiar with the story of Mary and Joseph forgetting or
misplacing Jesus on their way home to Nazareth from the Passover in Jerusalem.
We all have lost or misplaced something in our lives at one time or another.
Some of us, like myself, that are getting up in years do that more often as
time goes on. It could be your car keys, wallet, or purse, but you know you
haven't lost it; you can't remember where you left it. I'm sure that was what
young Jesus's parents felt when they couldn't find him in the caravan. When this
happens, you first retrace your steps, which occurred in that caravan when they
could not find Jesus.
Mary and Joseph lost four days of fellowship with Jesus because
they did not know he was missing. We don't realize something we have misplaced
is missing until we need it. For example, you don't realize your keys are
missing until you head out for an appointment, and we cannot find them
anywhere. Sometimes, the first thing we think of is, "I wish I had not
waited until the last minute to leave." We can misplace Jesus in our lives
and, like the example of the missing keys, get in a state of hurriedness and
begin to believe that we are in control (Hebrews 2:1).
A farmer once tried to save money on food for his mule. So, he
decided to add a small amount of sawdust to the oats, and the mule did not seem
to notice but kept doing what he always had done. Then the farmer decided to
add a little more sawdust, and over time the mule was eating more sawdust and
fewer oats until finally, one day, the poor animal was being fed all sawdust.
It only took a few days of this until the mule died.
The point of this sad story is that there is no replacement for
Jesus in our lives; nothing can take the place of daily fellowship with our Lord
and Savior, Christ Jesus. If we add some sawdust to the mix, some frill that we
think will replace Jesus in our lives, we, like that mule, will spiritually
die.
There is no replacement for daily prayer, bible study, worship, and praise with other Christian brothers and sisters in the House of God. No sawdust filler can take the place of spreading the Word of God to the ends of the earth. The more time we spend with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, the less the danger of misplacing Him in our lives becomes.
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