41 Every
year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. 42
When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. 43
After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, 44 because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when
he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their
relatives and friends. 45 When they
couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. 46
Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the
religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. 47
All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 His parents didn’t know what to
think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your
father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” 49 “But why did you need to search?” he
asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they didn’t understand what he
meant. 51 Then he returned to
Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these
things in her heart. LUKE
2:41-51 NLT
Serving
God is every Christian’s priority
Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must
worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’” LUKE 4:8 NLT
I am saying this for your benefit, not to
place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the
Lord best, with as few distractions as possible. 1 CORINTHIANS 7:35 NLT
No one can serve two masters. For you will
hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. MATTHEW 6:24 NLT
We Serve God by serving others
For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. MARK 10:45 NLT
God has given each of you a gift from his
great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 1 PETER 4:10 NLT
The more humble the task the more proud God
is
In the same way, you younger men must accept
the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for
“God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” 1 PETER 5:5 NLT
God always gives you extra strength to
serve Him
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given
me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to
serve him. I TIMOTHY 1:12 NLT
We are exhausted when we serve only
ourselves
God
blesses those who find joy in serving him
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For
he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will
call me blessed. LUKE 1:47-48 NLT
For the Kingdom of God is… living a life of
goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this
attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. ROMANS 14:17-18 NLT
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ROMANS 12:11 NLT
And everyone who has given up houses or
brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake,
will receive a hundred times as much
in return and will inherit eternal life. MATTHEW
19:29 NLT