As We Prepare to Say Good-bye

Scripture Verses that Caught my attention today: Matthew 4:12-13 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,

Observation: Jesus makes a home for himself.

Application: Our oldest son is in the process of deciding where to go to college. In a very real way he is choosing where to make a home for himself for the next four years. He will be leaving the region of Allen and Hancock counties for either El Paso or Cook counties. There he will set up shop as a student, organize his meager belongings in a dorm, and connect with other like-minded and/or similarly-focused individuals who will in some ways follow one another until they eventually discover a path of their own. As parents, we’ll be most interested to help him move into this new home he is making. Why? Partly because we hope it will help us deal with the grief of him moving out.

I wonder what it was like for Mary and Joseph as Jesus left the home they had provided and forged out on his own. Perhaps this wasn’t the first move. Perhaps he had already moved out some time ago but had just been living in the home area. Maybe the move was no big deal at all. Still, for Jesus I think it had significance. It doesn’t sound like he went to Capernaum with his friends. Since Matthew records him picking disciples just a few verses later, it sounds to me like he went their all alone and then, instead of holing up in his new digs, assertively developed community on his own.

I still wonder what that transition was like for Jesus and for Mary and Joseph even as I anticipate, with mixed emotions, what our son’s transition will be like for him and for us.

Prayer: Lord, I’m just filled with curiosity this morning. I guess it will be interesting to see how it all works out. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 1 Samuel 19, 1 Chronicles 7, Psalm 59, and Matthew 4)