“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.” (Luke 2:52)
We all want to be known as people who get along with other people. For those of us who have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we also seek to find favor with God. When it comes to finding favor with God, all those who are in Christ qualify, with no limit. This favor isn’t based upon who we are, but is wholly dependent on the person of Christ and what He did for us. In Luke 2:41-52, Jesus’ experience of staying behind in the temple is a great reminder of how we can grow in favor with God.
The first way we can grow in God’s favor is through worship, especially corporate worship with our family. Most men left their family at home while they traveled to Jerusalem, but Joseph didn’t. For Jesus and his parents, this was a family affair as Joseph brought Mary and Jesus. Are you worshipping God as a family?
The second way we grow in favor with God is by learning. When Joseph and Mary realize that Jesus isn’t in the caravan of family and friends traveling home from Jerusalem, they hurry back to the temple area to look for Jesus. They found that Jesus was staying longer for the extra Q and A session, sitting in the temple soaking up information from teachers who loved talking about God. Jesus didn’t want to leave the Temple, because he wanted to be close with his Heavenly Father and around those who loved to talk about God.
The third way we grow in favor with God is by submission. Jesus, modeled how to submit to those God has put in authority over us, as he submitted to his parents and left the teachers of the law and went back to Bethlehem. Are you submitting to the people that God has placed in authority over you? Are you submitting even when their leadership may be bad? Ask God to give you the ability to do this.
The fourth and final way that we grow in favor with God is by maturing in our faith. Just as Jesus was asking questions to the teachers, he continued to grow in intimacy and understanding with His heavenly father. Is your faith being stretched? Are you learning to give more and more areas of your life to Jesus’ lordship? Let’s remember that as we grow in favor with God, we will find more reasons to worship and praise Him.