Left Behind

The cousins: my Ben and my niece, Virginia
1990s

"When they couldn't find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for Him there." (Luke 2:45 NLT)

Kevin McCallister in the 1990 American family comedy Home Alone wasn't the first kid to get left behind. In the New Testament, Dr. Luke tells the story of twelve-year-old Jesus and his parents caravanning to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When the convoy left the holy city, unbeknownst to Mary and Joseph, their boy stayed behind. After a day's journey, the couple realized that Jesus was missing and promptly returned to Jerusalem.

Tonight, I'm teaching a Bible lesson I prepared 15 years ago. A real danger of doing a God-job over and over for years and years is slipping into self-reliance and one day waking up on a desert road realizing, "Hey, Jesus is missing. Where'd He go?"

O pilgrim, have you left Jesus behind? Turn around, retrace your steps, and hurry back to Him! "For apart from Jesus we can do nothing!" (John 15:5b)