Introduction

In the movie “Home Alone” the McCallister family, in the confusion and rush to board their flight on time, leaves little Kevin at home and does not know until they are already airborne. A similar thing happened almost 2000 years ago and unlike in the movie, this was for real. The Bible says that Mary and Joseph left Jesus behind on their return trip from Jerusalem. There are three important truths about God’s presence we can learn from this incident.

Read Luke 2:41-49

1. We can lose God’s presence and not Know

(I) At this time, traveling in groups was common because it offered protection from bandits and allowed people to distribute resources.

(II) Joseph and Mary assumed that Jesus was in the group just like the other children in the caravan. They did not realize Jesus’ absence until the end of the day.

(III) Assumptions can be deceiving. We must search our lives in and out and be certain God is with us.

2. Losing God’s presence is easy. Finding is Difficult

(I) Jesus went missing within 24 hours. It took Mary and Joseph another day to go back. Then another full day to find him. Sums up to 3 days.

(II) Were Mary and Joseph ignorant? No. They were simply engrossed in the business of going home. This was not Jesus’ priority though.

(III) Losing the presence of God in the complex logistics of everyday life is easy. But rediscovering it can be very difficult.

3. God’s children should always be in His presence

(I) Jesus’ statement “I must be in the . . . of my Father” implies 2 meanings.  I must be about my Father’s affairs and I must be in the house of my Father.

(II) We cannot say God’s presence is with us unless we learn to be in his presence in the first place.

(III) If God is our heavenly father we need to take care of his work for him while we are on this earth.

Conclusion

Let us examine our lives to see if the presence of God has been missing in our lives all this time and begin to wait in his presence again.

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