A Thought For The Week Of July 21

"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52, NIV) It's Vacation Bible School season in many churches. This week, it's my own congregation's turn, so our church will be humming with the presence of little children having fun and learning more about God. It made me think of this verse from Luke's Gospel. Even Jesus had to grow in wisdom. At this point in Luke, Jesus is about 12 years old, and this comes right after his encounter at the temple in Jerusalem with the teachers, whom he had amazed with his questions as he sat listening to them. As a child, Jesus obviously was curious. Perhaps not fully aware of who he was and what his mission was, he had a thirst to know more about both God and the Scriptures, and to discern what he had been called to, and in spite of the amazing knowledge he already had for a child of that age, he found opportunities to learn more. I hope the children in our church and in churches all over at this time of year are growing in both wisdom and stature as well: coming to know God better and becoming more of what God wants them to be. But I also hope that we don't think that learning about God is only for children or for adults who are new to the faith. Let's face it - there's always more to learn about God. I suspect that's one thing Jesus meant when he told his disciples that they should become "like little children." Those who follow Jesus should have a never ending thirst to learn more and more about God and to know God better every day. I'm constantly amazed when I read Scripture, for example, that no matter how familiar the passage I'm reading may be, there always seems to be something new that I can take from it, something I've never noticed before that causes me to want to go deeper. If we are like little children, then this is one of the ways we should show it: with a never ending and never satisfied thirst for knowledge about both God and Jesus, and the faith we are called to. Have a great week!