Shelly Nyo

Without a complete understanding of the grace of God, it can be easy to fall into a place where we think that favor will automatically be on our lives, and that all we have to do is have faith. However, the Bible teaches that if our faith is real, we will be willing to put action behind it (James 2:14-24). For instance, if I am believing God that I will purchase a desperately needed new home, I will not blow through my bank account, thinking that God will somehow just drop a blessing on me. Instead, I will diligently save my money for that home BECAUSE I believe God will provide. Likewise, if I am believing God for a raise, I will work extra hard at my job, because I believe the Lord will deliver!

I recently read the story of the young Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2). He and His parents had traveled there for the Festival of the Passover. After the festival, His parents returned home, but He stayed behind without their knowledge (Luke 2:41-43 NIV). After a day of travel, His parents realized that He was not with their family or friends, and they had to return a day’s journey to Jerusalem to search for Him! When they found Him after some days, He was in the temple courts, “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions (Luke 2:46 NIV).” After asking Him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you (Luke 2:48 NIV),” Jesus said, “Why were you searching for me? […] Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house (Luke 2:49 NIV)?” The passage later goes on to say of Jesus’s growth from a young man onward, “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:51-52 NIV).”

After reading these passages in Luke 2, the last sentence stood out to me, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52 NIV).” I had to double-take. “Jesus grew.” Some translations say He “increased.” Hmm. Revelation! Jesus is fully God and fully man. In my mind, he had the favor of God from the day He was born, because, well, He is the Son of God. Correct? So I thought to myself, why does this passage say that Jesus grew in favor?

The growth word suggests that He – yes, even He – put in some work, He went through a process. While I could wrap my mind around the growing “in favor with […] man” part, I really needed to think more carefully about what the “growing […] in favor with God” part meant. This is just me thinking, but I suppose that His growth included making God His priority and communing with God daily. Not that this is suggesting that, for those of us who have given our lives to the Lord, we have to work for our salvation. We can’t do that! However, we do need to make sure we are always “in the secret place (Psalm 91:1 NKJV),” which is where God’s protection is. This means being in His word, and having His word in us (Psalm 119:11 NIV).

For those of us who have a goal that we are trying to reach, or a dream that we would like to see fulfilled, what work are we putting in today? Christ Himself spent his childhood years submitting to His parents (Luke 2:51 NIV). He still had to go through the process of growth. Are there any areas of our lives where we feel that we can circumvent studying diligently, practicing diligently, or engaging our market diligently? Remember the Biblical principle of reaping and sowing: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV).” As we believe God to fulfill our dreams and help us reach our goals, let us first make sure that our dreams and goals align with God’s Word, and then, let us carry on the work of studying hard, practicing diligently, and engaging our places of work and our markets to the best of our abilities.

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