Jesus is missing! (A Devotional" by Gbile Akanni)

As we prayerfully look up to the Holy Spirit to take us through another series in our gleanings, we invite you to come along with us with a heart lifted to God at all times in prayers. These are devotions and thus require soberness of heart. Our prayer is that each of us will glean what shall be sufficient for our day to day walk with Jesus. Amen.

Jesus is missing...

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled their days, as they returned, the child, Jesus, tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not of it. But they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances. And When they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass that, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were amazed at His understanding and answers. And when they saw Him, they were astonished and His mother said unto Him, Son, why has thou thus dealt with us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said unto them, how is it that ye sought Me? Knew ye not that I must be about My Father's business? And they understood not the saying, which He spoke unto them”Luke 2:41-50 KJV

This scripture is quite familiar to several people as it tells us the story of how Jesus followed His earthly parents to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. But our concern here is not just the story. We want to examine what happened to Joseph and Mary that Jesus was missing from their midst and they never knew it. Since it happened to people like Joseph and Mary, it could happen to anyone. As a matter of fact, there are several people, Churches and fellowship groups in whose lives Jesus is presently missing and they do not know it. This then calls for a careful study of this incidence in order to glean wisdom for our lives and our walk with God.
It will be a very costly assumption to think that you are a child of God, that God is with you and that Jesus is in your heart, only to get to the gate of heaven and discover that you never knew Him or that you missed Him along the way. That time, it will be too late and eternity will open up to you on the other side, which is hell fire. There is therefore an urgent need to pay close attention to this matter.

Now the Bible said,

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover…”Luke 2:41 KJV

This is one thing you should note as we prayerfully go on in this devotion. Mary and Joseph were not careless, ungodly people. They were quite religious. They went every year to the feast of Passover. They were not people who had absconded from Church; they were not even people who went to the Temple occasionally. They went regularly. May be you are such a person who has never missed any of your Church meetings and programs, Joseph and Mary were people like you. The Bible records that when Jesus was twelve years old, they went with Him up to Jerusalem as they had always done.

Think a little more about the background of Mary and Joseph. Mary was a woman that set herself aside for God. She consecrated her heart to God. Mary, though in courtship relationship with Joseph, with the consent of their two families and the wedding day already fixed, still maintained her virginity! Not many young people in this age care so much about being chaste.

Not many eventually get married as virgins. They “spoil” themselves with premarital sex or fornication. Many even go as far as aborting pregnancies. But not Mary, she kept herself in the midst of such pressures and temptations. Now if such a person that has been working in the service of God [proper consecration], walking with a heart turned towards God, and in holiness, missed Jesus, then I would again like to remind you to consider this very closely. It could happen to you also!