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Wisdom, Stature and Favour

by Adam Bennett  
6/30/2008 / Parenting

This week my baby girl has been taking her first steps. Also this week I have read Luke 2:52 which says, "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man." Apart from telling us about his childhood, and reminding us of Jesus' humanity, I think this verse can teach us about parenting priorities.

We take for granted that children will grow in stature... that as parents we will care for their physical needs. A Christian parent takes their lead from God the Father, "from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named," (Ephesians 3:15 ESV) and in the same way God provides for the needs of his creation a parent is responsible to provide for their children.

Clearly this is what Jesus expected when he said, "which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11 ESV)

Children must also grow in wisdom and for a Christian this is not limited to education, though that is important too. More important is the understanding to live in God's world, in a way that pleases God and which leads them into a lifelong relationship with him.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (ESV) This wisdom, a true knowledge of life from God's perspective and not a human view, is what it means to grow in favour with God.

And finally, children start learning that the Christian life involves relating to God and people. Jesus said, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)

Immediately before the description of Jesus in Luke it says he, "went down with them [his parents] and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them," (2:51). This was because he had stayed behind at the temple where he was, "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." (2:46) Jesus was obedient to his parents, courteous, respectful and teachable. A child like this will always be in 'favour with men'.

In summary, Matthew Henry's commentary says, "Young people, as they grow in stature, should grow in wisdom, and then, as they grow in wisdom, they will grow in favour with God and man."

Copyright Adam Bennett 2009. More articles are available at http://godward-thoughts.blogspot.com/

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