WHAT IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

Luke 2:49 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

ILLUSTRATION:

In his book Thoughts in Solitude, Thomas Merton wrote fifteen lines that have become known as “the Merton Prayer”:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

What does it mean to be about my Father business?

1. DOING THE FATHER’S WORK

John 10:37 KJV 1900

If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

2. PROCLAIMING THE FATHER’S WORDS

John 17:8 KJV 1900

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

3. REVEALING THE FATHER’S CHARACTER

John 1:18 KJV 1900

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

4. CARRYING ON THE FATHER’S WILL

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.—Luke 22:42

5. GLORIFYING THE FATHER’S NAME

Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.—John 12:28

6. BRINGING TO THE FATHER’S HOUSE

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.—John 14:2

7. UNFOLDING THE FATHER’S LOVE

For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.—John 16:27

Davis, B. L. (2012). 52 Sermons about Jesus (pp. 66–67). Barry Davis.