Friday, March 14th

A few years ago my father wrote a song titled, ‘Don Fulano’ which translated into English means, ‘Mr. Somebody”. It’s the story of a young man from a humble background saying that when he grew up he was going to become somebody. I see this song as a universal image of what our culture is like. Everyone wants to be Mr. or Miss. Somebody. And, the way we determine if you’ve become somebody depends almost exclusively on whether or not you’ve achieved a title, position and financial worth. So we’ve created a whole system to prepare our children for adulthood based almost exclusively on achievements. We talk about the importance of studying and working hard to become somebody. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against achievements, I just believe that who you’re becoming is more important then what you’re achieving.

We know very little about Jesus’ childhood but what we do know is that the way in which He prepared for adulthood was vastly different than the way children prepare for adulthood today. Jesus’ main focus was who He was becoming rather then what He was achieving. Let’s look at what the Bible tells us was Jesus’ main focus in preparing for adulthood:

1. Wisdom. Jesus grew in knowledge. As we said in yesterday’s reading Jesus spent time asking and listening, not for the sake of achieving but for the sake of discovering who He should become as an adult.

2. Stature. Jesus grew physically. He took care not only of His mental health, He was also concerned with taking care of His physical well-being.

3. In favor with God. Jesus grew spiritually. The way to grow in favor with God is not through achievements, it’s through maintaining a consistent relationship with your Heavenly Father.

4. In favor with men. Jesus grew socially. People liked being with Jesus and He liked being with them. Jesus had a very simple approach socially. He simply accepted people just the way they were.

As I previously stated I’m not anti-achievement, I just believe that our achievements should be the product of who we’re becoming, and not the opposite. Our becoming is the product of what we’re achieving. No other person in history achieved more than Jesus, but what He achieved was the result of who He became. As adults I believe that we can all learn a lot from Jesus’ approach towards adulthood. Let’s focus on who we’re becoming and let’s allow our achieving to flow from there.

Bible reading
Luke 2:52

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Heavenly Father You always show us the truth. Thank you for teaching me that what’s important is who I’m becoming, not what I have to achieve to feel as though I’m somebody. May my achievements be the result of who I am.