Weekly Devotion

Last time I discussed the stick in our lives, the thing that is more solid than the straw in our lives, but less important than the bricks and that is our work. Our work is important and should be done to the best of our ability. Our work also consumes a lot of our time and is the place where we spend most of our time (if you take sleeping out of the equation). Therefore it is a big part of our lives.

But at the end of the day it is not the most important thing. It shouldn't consume more time than it should. Obviously there would be times when you spend more time at work, than other times, but when the long hours become the rule rather than the exception, then it is not healthy. I remember when I audited a big company here in South Africa, the accounts people joked that they worked such long hours that their own dogs barked at them and their children called them 'uncle', because they did not know who they were. They thought it was funny, but I didn't laugh. I was sad.

Because you know what, your work is not going to be there for you when disaster strikes. When you are diagnosed with cancer, will they come and sit with you through each chemotherapy session? When you are paralysed in an accident, how often do you think the people from work will come and visit you after you have been laid off at work? When you go through a divorce due to your long hours at work, sure your buddies at work will think it is just normal and encourage you to go through with it, but will they be there when you are all alone in old age? When your children want nothing to do with you, because you weren't there for them, will the work invite you over for Christmas? Will they really care for you?

I can go on and on, but I am sure you get the point. No one on their death bed wishes that they spent more time at work. They long for time wasted not being with their loved ones.

Work is only a stick. If your house is solely built out if it, I have bad news my friend. The first big storm will blow it apart and what do you have left then?

As I said before, work is important, but it is not the most important thing. You need balance in your life. Work and do your best, but then leave and go be with those that matter the most. Work on the bricks in your life and make sure that you have a house that will not be blown apart in the first storm that comes your way.

Lord, help us to see what is more important in our lives. Help us to discern and know when to draw the line. You know best. Amen

We have discussed the straw in our lives, things that take up time unnecessarily, things that will blow away the minute the storm strikes. Now it is time to discuss the sticks in our lives, things that are more important than the straw, but less important than the bricks. Things that will take longer to blow away, but that will still blow away when a strong enough wind comes up.

The best example for me to use of sticks in our lives is our work. Now let me explain this carefully. Work is important. It was one of the curses placed on Adam after sin entered the human race. God declared that we will work hard in order to survive.

Genesis 3:17-19 'All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. All your life you will sweat to produce food, until your dying day."

Work is something that men must do and be proud of. Females can also work of course, but that is a whole other discussion. The point is that work was ordained by God. We have to do something in order to look after ourselves and our families. And we have to do it to the best of our ability. The whole Bible is full of verses, stressing the importance of not being lazy and passive, but that we must work and keep busy. We all have a purpose to fulfill. Imagine a world where no one worked. It would be total and utter chaos, especially if evil stays as rampant as it is today. Imagine no doctors to heal the sick, no police to maintain law and order, no farmers to produce food, no teachers to educate the young, no bankers to keep our money safe, absolute chaos.

Work is therefore important as it consumes most of our time. We must use our talents to be the best we can be. The working place must be a better place because we are there, no matter what our position is. The other day I met a lady who was a cleaner for 35 years and what an inspirational lady! She said that she knew her purpose was to be a cleaner and she was going to do it to the best of her ability. I was so motivated by her positive outlook in life and her knowledge of the Lord, it was like a breath of fresh air simply to talk to her. The people who had the privilege of working with her, was blessed, I am convinced of it!

Work is a whole subject to talk about. I will be able to write a whole book about it, but for now, just know your work is important and that is why it is a stick in your life. It doesn't define who you are, but it is a place where you can live out your religion and influence people positively because of it. It is place where you can tell people about Jesus and it is a place where the Lord can also build character into your life. Be positive about it and give your utmost best. And when the Lord tells you to move, then move. He will lead you where you need to be, trust Him, He is faithful.

Lord, thank you for our jobs. Thank you that You gave it to us. Bless us there and help us to grow and build our character so that we can be someone You can be proud of. Amen

We have discussed a couple of things that can waste our time and be regarded as straw in our lives. In other words things that will wither away the moment something serious happens in your life. I think there are many things, 'straws' and you can probably name a couple that I am not even thinking about now, but my main aim in writing this is for you to start to think about it and notice it when it pops up in your life to steal your time and to drain you even more. That is the main aim of the devil. He wants to steal your time, drain you to a point of giving up and most importantly cause you to drift away from the Lord and from spending quality time with Him. That is ultimately all he wants, he wants you far away from the Lord drifting around in this life with no aim, no foundation and no hope for a better future.

John 10:10, "The thief's (devil's) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My (Jesus') purpose is to give life in all its fullness."

The devil, amongst other things, wants to steal your time. He wants to fill your life with straw and whenever you go through a crisis he is going to laugh at you when you fall flat without any support/foundation.  But more than that he is going to be so pleased when you start blaming the Lord for the crisis and for not supporting you through it. He simply loves it when we fall away from God.

Wasting time is an art for some people. It has always amazed me at work the big difference in time it takes for different people to do the same task. I know we are not all the same, but sometimes the discrepancies is just mindboggling and when you start watching those that take the longest you'll be amazed at how they can waste time. Typically they will slowly get up from their workstation and stroll over to make coffee, then they will stand there and drink it, they will also strike up a conversation with anyone who comes past, then after a while they will stroll back to their seats and check their email, they will then email their friends and thereafter catch up on the latest on Face book, then they will stroll over to the restroom and stay there for 20 minutes, then they'll stroll back and check their email again and so it goes on and on. Sounds familiar?

The Bible warns us against wasting time and being lazy:

'Lazy people don't even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find." Proverbs 12:27

'Better is he who is lightly esteemed but works for his own support than he who assumes honor for himself and lacks bread.' Proverbs 12:9

Don't allow the devil to steal your time. Don't waste another minute just breathing air. Do your work to the best of your ability, and spend the rest of your time on more important things. Make the bricks in your life the main priority. We will get to the bricks a little later, but I am sure most of you can guess that the most important brick is the Lord and thereafter your family. Make them your main focus and pray that God will give you the strength to avoid wasting time.

Dear Lord, You are our main priority. Forgive us if we waste time on mindless things. Give us the strength to say 'no' to things consuming our time and to rather focus on our relationship with You. Amen

We have been discussing the different things in our lives that take up our time, but are things that will not stand the test of time when we truly face storms in our lives. There are so many, but I am simply touching on a few. Another one that most of you most probably have guessed is the television. Let me explain.

3. The television

I know most of us love the television, love watching movies and love to relax in front of it. Now once again, that in itself is not bad. Television could be an excellent source of information and could also be used to bring family and friends together to watch certain events, such as the Olympic games, World cups, concerts etc.

Now as I said, I don't have a problem with television per se. I love watching sport and especially rugby, as I enjoy encouraging my team. But I have a problem with it in two areas, number one, when it takes the time of your family and number two when you passively allow any and all information that presents itself into your mind. Let me explain.

I don't think my first reason needs much explaining, but let me just clarify. We as a family stopped our satellite television at the end of last year and I cannot tell you how much more time we have for one another now. My husband comes home from work and now he has time to play with the children outside, we sit at the table and eat and tell one another of our day, we even have time to read inspirational books and we feel sleepy by the time we go to bed and not have flashes of what we just watched on television disturbing our rest. We will activate the television again when the rugby season begins, but then we will discipline ourselves to watch only the game and not put the television on in between.

Now I am not saying you should all switch off your televisions. If you love watching documentaries/news/educational programs/sports etc, by all means do it. Just keep in mind that your family comes first and if these programs take excessive time, analyze your situation and make the changes needed to give your family the time and attention they deserve.

My second problem that I have with television is that it influences your mind. I am not going into much detail about your mind, as I can write a whole book about it, but for now know that your mind is a battlefield between what the devil wants to put in it and what God wants you to think. There are so many verses in the bible about your mind, and it all boils down to the following:

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do." Proverbs 4:23.

In other words, guard your thoughts, as it will affect your actions and ultimately your whole life. Now when you are watching television, you want to lay back and relax and not think of anything else. But the problem is that you put your guard down and passively allow everything on the television to enter your mind. It dulls the brain and allows things in, that you would under normal circumstances not entertain in your mind. These thoughts would slowly worm their way into your mind and strategically place them wherever your weakness is. For example you are not happy with your body, now you will see beautiful women on the television and automatically feel bad about yourself. Or in the soapies you will see the perfect model of a man and you will start to compare him with your husband and begin to feel that your husband is not good enough. Or you worry easily and now on the news you see all the devastating things going on in the world and you tense up and sleep with the lights on, because you fear the worst to happen to you. I can go on and on, but I am sure you get the picture.

My point is this, be careful what you place in your heart.  Be careful what you watch, it becomes your thoughts, your thoughts come out of your mouth and influences what you do, your actions can become habits and your habits build your character, essentially who you are. So in actual fact, wrong images on televisions can influence your character and pull you away from the Lord and all He has for you. Be careful. Rather focus on what is good and pure and of good report, it will build you up, fill you with the joy of the Lord and give you peace which surpasses all understanding.

Lord Jesus, help us to look up to You and seek You in everything. Help us to discern different images on television and only look at what is good and pleasing in Your sight. You are our Lord and God and ultimately we would like to grow closer to You and leave out everything that could hinder our progress. Amen

I spoke last week about the first straw I believe can fill up your time, which is the internet. I truly believe that if left unguarded, it can quickly replace the more important things in your life. And when the first storm in your life blows, the time spent on the internet will not help you to weather it successfully.

The second thing that I would like to discuss which can consume time unnecessarily is people.

2. People

Now let me explain this carefully. Here I am talking about people that can waste your time and wear you down. I am not talking about the people closest to you that form part of the bricks in your life. After all Jesus said that the second biggest command is to love one another and our great commission is to go out and tell people about Jesus and His wonderful saving power. So I am not saying that you must forsake that, but I would like to talk about friendships and there comes a time when it is better to break a certain friendship than to keep it. Let me explain at the hand of examples. I have heard countless times people say something to the extend of:

"I don't really find any joy in spending time with this person, but before I know it we have a coffee date. Afterwards I feel drained and I didn't enjoy it at all, but I couldn't say no." or

"I feel that we have had a relationship for 10 years already, I cannot accept that we have grown apart. Even though I don't enjoy our time together anymore, I am going to keep the friendship going." Or

"Before I can help myself I am at the coffee machine at work gossiping about some of the people in the office. I don't really have time to gossip, but before I can help myself I am there catching up on the latest news." Or

"I know that person is not good for me. Whenever we are together we do things that we normally wouldn't do on our own, but I can't muster up the courage to get that person out of my life."

Now I don't have to tell you this, but I think you all realize deep down that when the real storms and difficult times in your lives come, these 'friends' will wither away like dew in the sun and at the next coffee break at work they will be gossiping about you.

We all know inherently that we should let them go, but I know that it is sometimes easier said than done. But the fact of the matter is that they are not good for you. They might not be 'wicked' people, but they do have an influence on you. When I started working I worked at a company where it was the norm to get drunk at every social event (and there was a lot!). And you know what, even though I didn't join them, it was not before long I began to accept their behavior and be less appalled by it. I started to accept it as the norm and not the exception. I even thought it was funny at times. And later on I realized that they were having a very bad effect on me. As a child of God I wasn't supposed to join them at every social and stay until late with them, because it was not good for me and it was not good for my relationship with the Lord. I am the temple of the Lord and I cannot defile His Temple like that.

So yes, I know it is difficult, but at the end of the day it is more important to honor God than people. But don't just take my word for it, let's see what the Lord says in His Word about friendships.

"The godly are cautious in friendship, the wicked lead them astray." Prov 12:26

"Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm." Prov 13:20

"Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers." Psalm 1:1

"Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?...Therefore, come out from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:14-15;17 - 18

I guess I can go on with more verses as there are quite a number concerning this issue. The point I would like to make is this. People are social beings and we were created that way. And when you do social, make sure it is with someone that will build you up, that will make you feel refreshed after the chat, someone that is positive and especially someone who loves the Lord and that will be there when the first storm comes to rock your house. Someone that will support you through thick and thin.

Don't waste time on people who only wear you down, instead focus on those people that form part of the bricks in your life. But I will talk about them later, for now, choose your friends carefully, they have an impact on your life.

Lord Jesus, please give us the courage to end relationships that are not good for us. Give us the desire to spend time with You instead and with the people closest to us who is truly important. Amen

Last week I started with a new series about the three little pigs. One built his house of straw, one with sticks and the only one who kept on standing was the house built with bricks. I also asked the question whether your life was filled with straw, sticks or bricks? Which one consumes most of your time?

This week I want to start with the straw that can fill one's life and eat at the time that you ought to be spending on the bricks. There could be much more than these that I am going to discuss, but these are the ones I feel is most common amongst people.

1.       The internet

Now before some of you want to stone me for saying this, please hear me out first. The internet is a wonderful thing. Information is at hand, we can handle all our transactions through it, we can stay in touch with people who live in another part of the world, we can learn so much, we can make money through using the internet and so I can go on and on. It is no doubt a good thing, you wouldn't even be able to read my blog if it wasn't for the internet. I cannot imagine a corporate world without internet, it is totally unthinkable and it makes me wonder sometimes what our clever human race will think of next. But for now the internet is an irreplaceable part of our lives.

But as anything in our lives, it can become too much. If the internet replaces your contact with human beings around you, I have a problem with it. I would like to point out a few examples to bring my statement across.

 A friend of mine works at a design company. She loves working there, but when I asked her about the people working with her she said they are okay. When I asked her to elaborate further, she simply said, "Well, they don't talk much really. When they want to ask/tell me something they email me even though I am sitting right next to them." Now I found that very interesting. God made us as human beings who interact with one another, who need one another. He made each of us with unique qualities that communicate with one another in interesting manners. He didn't make us loners who cannot look someone else in the eyes. We are human beings, made for interaction and if that interaction is through a cold computer, whilst we have the alternative to be polite and talk to the person next to me, I have a problem with it.

Another example is when I went to say hallo to a friend of mine, her sister was visiting her from overseas. But the whole time I was there she was on Facebook.  The whole time updating her status and checking the status of everyone she knew to see if something changed in the meantime. I barely got a nod. Now I don't have a problem with Facebook per se, but when it is more important than the people around you, and most importantly your family around you, then I have a problem. She was on Facebook most of her stay with her sister and it made her sister feel less important than all her 'friends' on Facebook, which is very sad to me.

Also I have heard numerous times examples of men coming home from work, who slumps in front of the internet to search the net for the latest news and trends. I am not talking about men that come home that still need to finish work, I am talking about men putting general news on the internet in front of their wives and children. The children are keen to spend some time with their father they haven't seen all day and the wife would like to chat about things with her husband, but he prefers the internet above them. I have a problem with that. Nothing should come ahead of your family, except God.

Last, but definitely not least, think about the time you spend on the internet, and now I am not talking about your working hours/ hours paying bills etc, but the physical time you spend simply 'surfing the net'. Is it more than the time you spend with the Lord? If it is, then you need to start looking for ways to decrease your time because (maybe unknowningly) you are creating an idol, you are idolizing and valuing the internet more than God. In the Old Testament times it was easy to recognize an idol and it is easy for us to condemn them today for worshipping dead wooden images. But today the internet can also be classified as a 'dead wooden image'.

It is with examples such as these that the internet becomes straw to me. When the first wolf comes and blows at your house, in other words, if something comes and rattles your life, the internet will blow away very quickly. You need something more solid to keep you standing, and there is nothing more solid than our Rock, Jesus.

Lord please give us the strength to value You and our family more than the internet. It sounds so easy, but it is not. Please help us, we don't want an idol above You Lord. Amen.

I am sure that most of you know the story of the three little pigs. But for those of you who don't, in short it is about three little piggy brothers who still lived with their mother. When it was time to leave the house she gave them some advice, told them to build strong houses for themselves and saw them on their way.

The first piggy was a bit lazy and took the easiest route. He built himself a house of straw. He finished the house very quickly and immediately started to live there. It was not long before the wolf in the vicinity smelled the little pig and without any trouble blew his house away in order to eat him. Luckily for the little piggy he was quick enough to get away from the nasty wolf.

In the mean time the second little piggy made a little more effort in building his house. He used sticks to build his house. He took a bit longer than his brother did in building his house, but soon enough he was finished and enjoying his finished product. Once again it was not long before the wolf sniffed him out and with a little more effort blew his house away as well. The wolf was very hungry by now, but the little pig managed to escape amongst the heaps of sticks lying around.

The third little pig was wiser than his brothers and decided to build a proper house with bricks and cement. He took much longer than his brothers did in building the house, but he made sure that everything was hundred percent in place with a proper foundation to support his structure. Eventually he finished his house. He was so impressed with his handwork and enjoyed living there. The nasty wolf was famished by now and smelled the piggy from afar. He hurried over to his house and tried to blow the house down, but as much as he tried he couldn't even make a dent in any part of the house. He realized he had to make another plan, and before long he realized that he can climb onto the roof and wriggle himself down the chimney into the little piggy's house. He didn't waste any time and immediately put his plan into action. But the piggy was one ahead of him; he realized what the wolf was planning to do. So in the meantime he put a big pot full of boiling water in the fireplace and when the wolf came down the chimney, he gave a loud yoooowwll as his tail touched the boiling water and rushed out of the little piggy's house, never to return.

The two other piggy's heard the noise and rushed to see what happened. Their brother was glad to see them and invited them to come and live with him which they readily accepted. They all lived happily ever after.

Now you may wonder why I am telling you this old story. Well, I am going to talk in depth about the lessons that we can learn from these three little piggys and the choices they made. But for now, stop and think for a moment, is your house - in other words, your life - made up of straw, sticks or bricks? Do you spend most of your time on straw, sticks or bricks? Think about it, I will discuss it in more detail over the next few weeks, but I am sure you all inherently want to say your life is full of bricks, things that will last even if the wolf comes and tries to take it away. But is it really? Is that where you focus all your time and attention?

Lord Jesus help us to work on the things in our lives with eternal values. Help us to get away from the straw and the sticks that are less important. Amen

While I am busy writing about this theme of waiting on the Lord, He reminded me of a text verse that is so relevant to our discussion:

Isaiah 40:31 - "But those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

Then the Lord started to show me a couple of things connected to this verse that I would like to share with you:

1. If you were an eagle soaring in the sky, it requires no effort from your side, except for an occasional flap of the wings. An eagle soaring literally rest as it glides in the air. So lesson number one is that while you wait on the Lord, try and rest, you will find that you will gain new strength and that you will have renewed energy when the time comes for you to move on.
2. An eagle soaring in the sky doesn't try to do things on his own. He doesn't worry for one second that he will fall and have a deadly crash. He trusts wholeheartedly on the atmosphere supporting him. And that is lesson number two, we should not worry about the future and what it may hold, and whether we would fall, we should trust the Lord supporting us.
3. An eagle soaring can see farther than any other living thing. It has a wonderful bird's eye view of what is going on all around them. They can see the bigger picture. Lesson number 3 is that if we rest in the Lord and trust totally upon Him, we can ask Him to give us the ability to see the bigger picture and to understand where we are going. Even if it is only a promise that the Lord gives us to hold on to, He will.
4. An eagle soaring doesn't take matters into his own hands. He waits until the timing is perfect before he swoops down. And we should be the same. We shouldn't try and force things. Timing is vitally important. Things can work out quite differently if we do things at the wrong time.
5. Eagles soaring are the most peaceful picture. They always look at ease, as if they are enjoying their flight. We should be the same. Enjoy the time that you are waiting. Rest in the assurance that the Lord has a plan for you and that He will set things in motion at the right time. But for now be at peace and enjoy your flight.

Thank you Lord for your beautiful Word. Thank you that we can learn so much from You. Give us the courage to wait with confidence on You. We know that You know best. We love You. Amen.

Waiting is difficult as I have mentioned before. When we moved into our new home four years ago we planted our garden and couldn't wait for everything to start to grow! We looked forward to the trees we will have in our garden and all the shade it would provide. Day after day we would go out and look at the progress it has made. But now after four years, we have some shade and our garden is starting to settle, but we are still waiting for our big trees! And then I realized that nature wants to tell us something.

First of all, even if we don't see it, the roots are forming and firmly placing it in our ground in order to be able to handle the weight of the big tree that will later come. The roots need to be well grounded in order to weather storms and rain that will come. So even if we do not see the results now, there are things happening even if it looks as if everything is standing still. And so it is with you, while you are waiting, God is working in you to prepare you for the future.

Second of all, each season of the garden is needed and each season will pass. The winter is needed as a resting period and the summer as a period of growth. Each of them is necessary. So do not wish away the season that your life is at the moment, embrace it and use it to its fullest potential. If you are in a period of rest, rest, and if you are in a period of growth use it to the best of your ability.

Third of all, plant your hope in the possibilities of the future. I am confident that if there is not a natural disaster (which is highly unlikely where I live), that our trees will grow and they will become big lovely trees. They will provide shade for us and also be an area of enjoyment. I look forward to the future and the possibilities of it. And so you must do in your own life. Look forward to what is waiting for you. Live with an expectant heart that the Lord is now preparing you for what lies ahead.

In the fourth place, even if the garden is not where I would like it to be, I am grateful that it is not where it used to be! It is constantly growing and when we look back at photos we are surprised at the actual growth that took place. Therefore do not focus only on where you want to be, but also look at where you came from and how the Lord helped you to grow to the specific place where you are now and thank Him for it.

And last of all, as I said the garden is not where I would like it to be, but it is beautiful nonetheless. We need to live in the moment and enjoy it for what it is. Maybe I am not here in 10 years' time when the trees have grown big, maybe we move in the mean time and all the years we didn't enjoy the garden as it was. Live in the moment, in the here and now. The present is the best time you have. Even if you are in a waiting season, embrace it for what it is. You are growing towards something and that is very exciting. Thank God for it and spend as much time as you can now with Him.

He is longing for you company!

Thank you Lord for the waiting season in our lives. We know it is a time of growth and we look forward to growing with You. Amen

We are still continuing on the theme of waiting on God. We've discussed a few examples such as David and Paul, but in fact there are quite a number of them, for example Abraham, Jesus, Joseph, to name but a few.

Abraham had to wait for years and years, before the Lord blessed him with his true heir, Isaac. He did however take matters into his own hands in the meantime though and had a child with Hagar, namely Ishmael. And we all know the story about the rivalry between the two brothers and the nations founded from them. How different things could have been if Abraham had waited on the Lord's perfect timing!

Joseph is another example of someone who had to wait for years before the prophecy over his life came true. We all know how Joseph had two prophetic dreams about his future at the age of seventeen. He dreamed that his brothers' bundles of grain bowed down before his. He also dreamed that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed before him, representing his family bowing before him. Now this angered his brothers and they subsequently sold him into slavery. During his time in slavery, he was thrown into a different culture, exposed to sexual temptation, punished for doing the right thing, imprisoned for a long time and forgotten by those whom he helped. All he had to hang on to was his two dreams of a better future for him, which finally happened for him at the age of 30.

We can learn a few lessons from his life; first of all the Lord prepared him during the waiting period. As a seventeen year old he was a bit arrogant and had youthful pride towards his brothers. But the period he had to wait prepared him for the enormous job he had waiting for him. He learned how to trust the Lord and he lost all the pride that he had, which was evident in the kind manner he treated his brothers later when they came to beg him for food during the drought. He became a respected leader with integrity and had a strong relationship with God.

The second thing is that Joseph had only two dreams to hold on to regarding his future. Now here I am personally very guilty. I have had dreams about the future that the Lord is planning for me, but after a few months the impact of these dreams start to fade for me and then I want another prophetic word, either from someone or from God Himself. And then after a few more months, I want another one and another one and so it goes on. I constantly want affirmation of God's plan for me. It is something that I need to work on, because the Lord doesn't need to repeat Himself. We need to trust Him when He gives us a revelation and we need to hold on to it. He doesn't have to repeat it, we need to trust His Word and believe that He would do what He said.

The last person that I quickly would like to discuss is Jesus. Jesus only started His ministry at age 30. He had to wait patiently for the right time to start. He knew that timing was important and didn't jump the gun. We do not gain any information of His life between 12 and 30 in the Bible, but I think we can assume that He was doing the duties expected of Him as the oldest son and preparing Himself for the task that lay ahead. He is a very good example to follow of 'someone' who waited for the right moment to arrive and was more than ready for the big task resting on His shoulders.

Your right moment will come, believe in God and trust Him for the exact time to start.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the wonderful example that You gave us. We are grateful that we can trust in Your perfect timing, as we know that You know the best. Amen