photo via: lampbiblepictures.com
When I was 12 years old, I was your typical sixth grade boy. I played sports, chatted on MSN Messenger and learned what it mean to flirt with girls for the first time. I asked questions a 12-year-old would ask, I said things a 12-year-old would say and I had the wisdom an average 12-year-old would have. There wasn't anything spectacular or peculiar about me; I just did my own thing, while my biggest worries in life were what time practice was, what day the trash needed to be taken out and how to not let my friends see my parents pick me up from the movies.
Life at 12 was easy, for me, but then, there's Jesus.
Twelve-year-old Jesus is just as interesting as 30-year-old Jesus, in my book. It's the last time we hear of him for something like 18 years. One minute He's ditched His parents in Jerusalem to stay at the Temple for three days straight, and the next minute He's being baptized by John the Baptist, while the Heavens are opened up, and the Holy Spirit is falling on Him like a dove, while God's own voice booms down from Heaven to bless Him. Pretty crazy transition, huh?
Twelve-year-old Jesus was not 30-year-old, turning water into wine Jesus, but at the same time, He was, and we can still learn so much from even His 12-year-old self. Here are a few things He knew at 12 that I'm still learning at 24:
1) Hang out with people older than you
After Jesus' parents had been looking for him for more than three days after He ditched them at the Passover Feast, where did they find him? Hanging out with old people (teachers to be specific). Jesus hung out with people older than Him, not just kids His own age. If we only hang out with people our age or younger, how will we ever receive the wisdom that only grey hair can bring? If you hang out with 12-year-olds, you'll be as wise as a 12-year-old; If you hang out with 60-year-olds, you may steal some of that 60-year-old wisdom.
2) Ask good questions
Jesus didn't just hang out with people older than Him; He asked them questions. He picked their brains, and it says, "all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers." He was brilliant, mostly because He was God, but also because He asked them good questions. You never know until you ask.
3) Respect your parents
How hard would it be to respect your parents when you're God? Extremely hard. After all, can you imagine knowing literally everything and still having to submit to your parents, even though you may positively know their wrong? I can't. Jesus did it anyway. When His parents said it was time to come home after a three-day stent in Jerusalem, He came home.
4) Go out on your own
At 12-years-old, Jesus was already traveling the country on His own. He pretty much kicked it back in Jerusalem by Himself, while His parents headed home (little did they know). He didn't even need a babysitter. I don't know about you, but I was still scared to stay home alone for an hour when I was 12, much less stay in a different city by myself where I don't know anyone. I'm not encouraging 12-year-olds to run away from home; I'm just saying that at some point, you need to. It's important to travel on your own, meet new people and trust that God will take care of you, even when your parents aren't there.
5) Grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man
Jesus, at 12, was already concentrating on things I didn't even know existed at 12 (I'm still not sure what the word 'stature' means). He knew what was most important in life, and He pursued those things from an extremely young age. Jesus knew that growing in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man were essential to becoming a Man of God.
At 12, I was definitely nothing but a 12-year-old; however now that I'm a reborn 24-year-old, 12 years later, I just hope I can be someone like 12-year-old Jesus was. I hope my life and the lives of those in my generation can hold as big of a transition as Jesus' life did from 12 to 30.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Be like (12-year-old) Jesus.