A Frightening Moment

As a parent we have all felt that moment of panic when we have lost sight of one of our children. There is no describing that feeling when your heart falls into your stomach. Try this story on for size from Luke 2:41-52.

Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast 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. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 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." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Mary and Joseph lost Jesus, their son. But think about this — they lost God. Can you imagine their prayers? "Father, we don't know what we did with your only son." They lost God! That is a moment of fright beyond what any of us can imagine.

Tragically, millions of people who once knew God have lost Him somewhere along the way. Perhaps through anger, divorce, grief, sin, or laziness — however it happened God was lost as a result. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:33 that if we seek Him, He will meet our needs. The key to this statement is that we must seek Him first above all else. In Hebrews 11:6 we read, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Is it time to go looking for Jesus again? Where is the anxiety, the passion? How can you lose the Savior of your soul and not be in a hurry to find Him? Joseph and Mary stopped at nothing to find Jesus. How about us?