#89: As Jesus Carriers...

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When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it. Luke 2:43

The moment you give your life to Christ and accept Him as your LORD, you become a carrier of Jesus. Every believer must have this reminder in their subconscious-that a lot of things have changed and the sole reason is that there is a new Personality in them that they represent and carry everywhere they go, and so they cannot go everywhere especially where Jesus (whom they carried) would not go. They cannot do things they used to do before the way they did it because Jesus is now in the scene. Today’s passage shows us a practical example of what it means to be a carrier of Jesus.

The text reads that (as far as Joseph and Mary were concerned), they had finished the days and it was time to return home; on the other hand we see that Jesus, who knows the thoughts of the Father and whose hobby is going about His Father’s business (vs 49) saw the need to linger behind. This mix in conception and a failure of Joseph and Mary checking again for Jesus (whom they carried) to see if they were on the same page resulted in them going a whole day without Jesus (vs 44). Just think of the repercussion of going a day without Jesus. It is an experience you would not want to encounter as a believer. I can imagine they must have got to point in their return Journey that they needed to consult with Jesus, only to find that He was never even with them for the past 24hrs. They had to go back to where they missed it.

How does this apply to your life today? Have you ever made some decisions when you dim the time fit as Joseph and Mary did without consulting Jesus? You can be sure that as far as your decision did not align with the Father’s business, Jesus would not be party to it and he would not be in your company. Should troubles arise, there will be no one to call out to. Perhaps you are just realizing this, there is need to trace your steps back to where you lost Jesus. He is there waiting for you to realize your mistake.

He left Judea and departed AGAIN to Galilee. BUT HE NEEDED TO GO THROUGH SAMARIA (John 4:3&4)

This is one of the most innocent looking verses of scriptures but therein lies some deep truths about carrying Jesus. The first thing to note is the word AGAIN. This quickly brings to mind that this was a regular/routine journey that Jesus made with his disciples. The next thing to note in this passage is the word BUT. This means that even though this was a routine journey, there was something peculiar this time from other times-he needed to go through Samaria. I love these verses. He had to go through Samaria.  And I wondered why this was so special, and when I checked the ancient maps of the times of Jesus I found that all other Jews by-passed Samaria. The normal way to go south from Galilee to Jerusalem was via Trans-Jordan, crossing close to Salim and coming back into Judea at the Ford of Jericho. No Jew wanted to go through Samaria. The Father’s business (John 4: 32&34) needed Him to pass though Samaria. There was a woman there that needed salvation and through her, a whole village would be saved.

Again this must make us very careful as a carrier of Jesus that per second and minute we are checking-“which turn is Jesus going to make?” This is why many people have missed it in their Pilgrim’s journey. There are several other times in Jesus’ ministry where he had to make some seemingly unnecessary stops, where he had to take routes that were bizarre, where he had to wait 4 more days to visit a sick friend, but they were all in line with the Father’s business. As a carrier of Jesus, His Spirit must help us to constantly check on Him what the mind of the Father is.


THOUGHT: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). These are two distinct part of God’s plans that go together. You may know the thought of God for something and go about it your own way. Even after seeking God’s council for His thoughts, we must take deliberate effort to pray even more for direction on how to go about it for His ways are not our ways. This is the only way we become perpetual carriers of Jesus.

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