Dwight Fletcher | Priorities and obedience

Throughout December, we have been looking at the humanity of Jesus. We have discussed the five ways in which He grew as a human being and what we can learn from Him. The bustle of Christmas Day has passed and gives us some time to look at other lessons from Jesus as He walked out His humanity.

JESUS UNDERSTOOD PRIORITIES

One of the key stages of a Jewish boy’s life was recorded in the scriptures about Jesus. On His 13th birthday, He would be accepted as a full “son of the law”. He therefore became responsible for obedience to Jewish law. In preparation for this transition, Jesus’ desire was that God the Father would be the number one priority in His life. So, at age 12, when an upset and worried Mary found Him and said, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” Luke 2:47-48 (NKJV), Jesus had been so absorbed in the experience of listening to the teaching in the temple that He was oblivious to almost everything else.

He was surprised that Mary and Joseph would not understand His presence in the Temple. Jesus answered, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49 (NKJV). This response reflected a growing sense of priority in Jesus’ life. Even at the age of 12, He had already set some priorities for His life.

Jesus was aware of a very unique kind of relationship with God the Father. The Bible clearly indicated that He was committed to giving that relationship priority over every other relationship in His life. As the adult life of Jesus unfolded, this was obviously the principle by which He lived. It began in the early days of his life and was voiced by him when he was 12!

The life of Jesus teaches us that our most important relationship should be the one we have with God. We need to learn this lesson and must teach our children that:

1. Their relationship with God should be the most important and take first priority.

2. Every other relationship must be determined in light of our relationship with God.

Jesus is emphatic when he says, “I had to be in my Father’s house.” Which relationship takes the highest priority in your life?

JESUS UNDERSTOOD SUBMISSION

We also learn from this passage that although God the Father was Jesus’ first priority, it did not result in disregard for His other relationships. Jesus treated the relationship with His earthly parents as important by submitting to them.

Luke 2:50-51 (NKJV) says “They did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.” Submission to His parents flowed perfectly from His submission to God.

Interestingly, children who don’t submit their lives to God will usually have difficulty submitting to their parents and subsequently to other authority figures. We see this lack of submission most commonly towards Jamaican teachers, policemen and supervisors. But God is the one who puts human authority in place so we are to submit once it does not cause us to sin.

As we close out 2020, which by any measure has been a challenging year, let’s step back and reassess our priorities. Is everything in our lives determined by our relationship with God? If not, what changes do we need to make for the year ahead? How can we start to put God first?