And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”  - Luke 2:49, NKJV

So, what was the Father's business?

From One who knew it well: “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will….So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 6:38; 13:34-35, NLT).

At age 12, Jesus very publicly began doing the will of His Father—He was “about His Father’s business.” And just what was that business? Love. Unconditional, everlasting love. It is impossible to think of Jesus without simultaneously thinking of love.

The “Father’s business” then, is to love: to love God fully, and to love others deeply. We are most like our brother Jesus when we are about the “business of love.”

I have been blessed my entire life to be surrounded by fellow pilgrims and sojourners who are about the “Father’s business” of love. What joy, what encouragement, what inspiration to witness such extraordinary love in action.

A small, representative sample of those engaged in the Father’s business:

·     Parents who tenderly care for a child who cannot care for himself or herself.

·        A daughter who lovingly attends to her terminally ill father, comforting him as best she can in his final, earthly days.

·        A husband who gives his all, patiently looking after his wife who no longer recognizes him due to the ravages of Alzheimer's.

·        A single mother, who, despite her own pain, comforts her children during a devastating divorce.

·        A business owner who opens his establishment for a weekly, early morning, Bible study where all are welcomed to learn more about God and His Word.

·        A friend who has graciously invested time and energy to help a former, wrongly convicted Death Row inmate tell his amazing story of perseverance.

·        Another friend who spends her days visiting elderly shut-ins, nursing homes and those whose lives have been negatively impacted by addiction.

·        And many who send a card, a message, a text to those enduring a difficult season of life.

This barely “scratches the surface,” but you get the picture. There are those who wake with a purpose each morning, and they carry that purpose with them throughout their days—and that purpose is to “be about the Father’s business” by sharing the love of God everywhere they go.

May we wake daily with the same purpose in mind. Let’s be about “the Father’s business.” The rewards for such a life are truly out of this world.

A fellow beggar along the Way,

Greg