Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Give Good Gifts | Advent | Luke 2:21-38

Episode Date: December 22, 2022

What's the most important thing you can give your kids? (Or spiritual kids!) What kind of parents did Jesus have? In today's episode, Patrick shares the importance of valuing faith over busyness. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Luke 2:21-38 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. What kind of parent do you want to be? What kind of parents are you? Of course, everybody listening to this may not become a biological or adoptive parent of a child, but that doesn't mean that we can't be parents. The Bible calls our church, our family, and it calls all of us to raise spiritual children as well as physical children. These days, it's kind of rare to see older men and women raising spiritual children in the faith, but it does happen and it's beautiful when it does. So again, whether it's biological or adopted or spiritual, what kind of parent do you want to be?

Luke's gospel gives us a subtle portrait of Joseph and Mary, and the kinds of parents that they were. It doesn't spell out exactly what they were like, but instead gives us little breadcrumbs that suggest and nudge us into the right direction. I just got to say this. Mary and Joseph, they weren't perfect people, which means they weren't perfect parents. And yet, I get the sense that Jesus chose the right family and that in many ways, their life, Mary and Joseph, their parenting, it's given to us as a model of the kinds of parents that we should be as well. In Luke 2, we read about what Joseph and Mary did right after Jesus's birth, Luke 2.22. When the time came for the purification rights required by the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord.

as it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or two young pigeons. Now, I know this feels like a lot of strange words and concepts. So let me try to explain a few things. First, a firstborn son like Jesus belonged to Yahweh in Israel. And this was kind of a way of remembering the Passover. That's when the angel of death passed over the firstborn sons of Israel but destroyed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, who were the slave masters of the Israelites. And the point was that

Yahweh had redeemed the first sons of Israel. And now it was up to the parents to redeem them back. So to do that, they would sacrifice something in the place of their child. Now, normally the Torah says it should be a large animal. But if a couple is really poor, doves could suffice. So now you're beginning to see who Mary and Joseph were. They weren't wealthy people. They actually had very little. They couldn't give the big sacrifice, and so they had to sacrifice two doves instead, and those two doves were probably a lot for them. So why do they do it? Because they want to honor Yahweh. They want to follow the law of Moses. Their parents who are dedicated to raising their child, Jesus, in the way of Moses, the way that's laid out again in the Torah, which maybe should surprise us a little bit. I mean,

if Jesus is God, surely he doesn't need to be trained in the law of Moses. Surely, his parents don't need to take very seriously guiding him in the ways of God. I mean, he's God after all. But Mary and Joseph seem to have thought the exact opposite. Because this child was from the Holy Spirit, they needed to take the utmost care to raise him in the way that Moses's law laid out. They didn't take a break on their parenting because, well, he's the son of God after all. No, in fact, it seems like they took their parenting even more seriously because of his divine nature. I mean, they needed to raise God right. So again, what kind of Parents are you? What kind of parent do you want to be? I ask because parenting in America has

become something of a nightmare. I'm speaking specifically about our cultural expectations around sports and activities. We seem to think that the most important thing we can give our kids is weekend tournaments, competitive dance teams, and other forms of involvement that we think will somehow make their lives richer, better, or more successful. In other words, we think that the best gift we can give our kids is busyness, a schedule without margins. And in the end, that often leads them to miss out on one very big thing, time with Jesus. They can't make small groups or church events because, well, sports. Your family misses two or three Sundays a month because, well, tournaments, or maybe you're just too tired from the games on Saturday. Again, what kind of parent do you want

to be? The best gift that you can give your child isn't activities. It isn't being the best basketball player on the team. It isn't dancing at national tournaments. Those are all fine and good things. But the best thing that you can give your child is eternal life with Jesus. But that's a gift best unwrapped slowly through many conversations, through many Sunday mornings and worship, through many small groups, through prayer and Bible reading. It's a gift that you'll be too distracted to give if you just keep putting activities in front of your kid, one after another, after another. just think about Mary and Joseph. They were raising the son of God.

That should have been the easiest job ever, but they didn't just mail it in. Yeah, Jesus had a direct line to the father. I don't think that they had to worry about his spiritual growth. And yet Luke carefully shows us that even in the first week of his life, they're willing to sacrifice their wealth and their time to begin raising him in the way of Yahweh. Will you do likewise? guys, here's the good news. Mary and Joseph weren't perfect parents. Mary has some tough run-ins with Jesus later on, which reminds us that the call isn't to be perfect parents. The call is to be

faithful parents. So if you need to confess that you put things before your child's spiritual growth, then confess and know that Jesus forgives. And then I want you to shut your eyes and I want you to imagine you giving your child to God. I want you to say to me, here God, take my son, take my daughter, take all that they are, then I want you to see God giving your child back to you and saying this to you, I entrust them to you. I'll be with you. Let's do this together. Be faithful. Take it seriously. Whether you're a parent now or want to be, whether those children are spiritual or physical, God has entrusted you with something precious and tremendous. Take his offer. Let him guide you. Put your child's spiritual needs first.

Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.