My Father's Business

The first recorded words of Jesus are very significant and are etched on the pages of time as a message and challenge to every born-again Christian. These words defined Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy (Son of man), understanding His identity and purpose (as Son of God) when He declared -- “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)

When we become aware of who we are as sons of God, we should declare like Jesus: “I must be about my Father’s business.”

As we pursue the Father’s business, we will have favor with God and be assured: “Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)

As we minister to those in need, God will give us favor with men and confirmation to them: “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

My Father's business is unlike any other business. His business is the one enterprise that surpasses and supersedes all others. There is no comparison to another, because His Kingdom is on a different plane, a different planet, and a different universe. The Kingdom of God, of which every believer is a part, holds a place in time and history and importance that every other kingdom, past, present, and future pales in comparison.

Jesus exampled and defined the mission and purpose of His business that He has commissioned for us to complete:

The Battle (Sword): “For this purpose the Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:9). If we are to be a part of this, we must put on the whole armor and sharpen our sword for the final battle.

The Harvest (Sickle): “For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into the harvest” (Matthew 9:37,38 -- Jesus’ only prayer request).

Business corporations set goals and continuously measure results to track their progress and growth, then make appropriate changes. Jesus said in Luke 16:8: “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Let it not be said that the men of this world, whose ends and aims are bounded by the horizon of this world, are more skillful and zealous in their temporal endeavors than we as children of God in our noble toiling in the Father’s Business -- the things of the eternal.

May we resolve that we will not stand at the Judgment having been less devoted to our Father’s business than we were to our employer's business and our own personal interests. When the Church Age has ended, and we stand on the other side looking back, may we have a testimony like apostle Paul: “I have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith; I have finished my course; I have given my life in the Father’s business.”