Been there, done that

"as we are"

Hebrews 4:15

I'm reading a new book.  Well, new to me.  I think it was written in the 60s.  I never heard of it before someone recommended it for my Amazing Boy, and that surprises me, because it's by an author I loved when I was a kid.

I'm not very far into it, but it's very intriguing.  The boy who is the hero of the book is living at the time of Jesus, so it's giving an interesting glimpse into what life was like for people who lived in that time.  The boy is Jewish, living under the tyranny of the Romans, and waiting and hoping for the opportunity for the Jews to break free.  Then a relative of his invites him to come hear Jesus preach, and he's forced to examine his motives and goals. 

I think my Amazing Boy will enjoy it.  He likes history, he likes learning about the Bible.

I am liking it because it's thought-provoking and interesting, but also because it's about the time in Jesus' life, that isn't detailed in the Bible.  Of course it's fiction, but based on what we know of Jesus' early public life.  I just love to imagine the things we don't know about His life on earth.  After all, we know about His birth, and then not much else until He was a man of about thirty, and don't you just love wondering what His life was like in the meantime?

I think I began wondering about Jesus' "lost years" when I had my children.  Both times, I was pregnant during the Christmas season, and it made me think a lot about Jesus' mother, Mary, and what it must have been like for her.  And then after I had my kids, I began to picture Jesus at whatever age my kids were, experiencing what they experienced.  Learning to walk, getting His first tooth, running to His father when he came home from someplace.  Making friends, learning carpentry, visiting relatives, playing with the neighbor's goat.... the joy of wondering and imagining is endless. 

You should try it.  Wonder what Jesus might have been like, might have done or said in a given situation.  Why?  Because He was as we are.  Hebrews 4:15 says, "We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."  Don't you find that comforting?  "In all points tempted as we are".  That means tempted to lie, tempted to be lazy, tempted to gossip.  Tempted to ~ well, everything I am.  I find that very reassuring. 

Can you imagine Him living your life?  Having to make the same decisions you make, struggling with the things that cause you to struggle?  For me, it's one of the best things about the fact that He walked this earth.  Wherever I am, He's there, and wherever I go, He's been there.

~ "He knows the way that I take;

When He has tested me, 

I shall come forth as gold." ~

Job 23:10