Christian Devotional – January 8, 2017

As we continue looking at purpose, what happens when people don’t think you’re the right person for the purpose you believe God has called you to? Jesus ran into this very early on. Read Luke 2:41 through the end of the chpater.

Jesus was going to the temple with his parents. He was only 12 years old, Still, Jesus knew exactly what His purpose was and how to fulfill it. Unfortunately, not everyone around him, like his parents, knew or understood exactly what that meant or looked like. As a result, Jesus went about fulfilling His purpose and His parents left Him at the temple. Sometimes when we are working to fulfill the purpose that God has for us and being obedient to Him, we don’t fit the idea that people have about the type of person that should be fulfilling it. We’re too old, or too young, or too rich or too poor. We have too many kids, or not enough experience, or whatever. The list can go on and on and frequently they are the same things that we tell ourselves as excuses when we feel that we understand God’s purpose for us, but we don’t think we can do it. Others will throw up these excuses as well.

People thought Jesus was too young to be doing what He was doing. Do we allow the perception of others to stand in the way of doing what God has for us to do? Will we allow our own perception and preconceived ideas of what God has for us to do to influence whether or not we are obedient? Jesus went right on doing what He knew He was supposed to be doing, and so should we.