Sons are part of the family business.

Luke 2:49

⁴⁹And He said to them, How is it that you had to look for Me?
Did you not see and know that it is necessary [as a duty] for Me
to be in My Father's house and [occupied] about My Father's business? (AMP)

I love the story in Luke 2:41-50 when Mary & Joseph took their teenage boy Jesus to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover feast. At the end of the celebration they headed home but somehow they forgot to bring Jesus with them! Stressed out, they went back to Jerusalem and found Jesus sitting in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions.

When they asked their teenage son why He decided to stay behind, Jesus seemed perplexed and asked them a question in turn... Didn't you know that I would be about My Father's business???? We know Jesus was not being cheeky to His parents, but was genuine is sharing His heart with His parents. Perhaps it was because He was at the bar mitzvah age where a son would be transferred into his father's care? Whatever the reason, we can clearly see that Jesus saw Himself as part of His heavenly Dad's business.

Sons work with their fathers, not for their fathers. The heart of a son is to be part of everything that His Dad is doing. An orphan at heart on the other hand feels no such connection. A good example of an orphan mindset is the elder brother in the prodigal son story in Luke 15:11-31. Though everything that belonged to his father already belonged to him, he actually saw himself as being a slave to his father.

We pick up on the story in Luke 15:29 where he angrily tells his father how upset he is that his own younger brother was getting a party after returning home... He tells his dad... ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. (NIV)

Even though he was the oldest son and privy to a double portion of his father's inheritance, he saw himself as a slave out in his father's field. I am thankful that the father in the story showed as much love to the older brother as he did to the younger brother and invited him to come in and join the party.

Those of us who still struggle with orphan mindsets might feel the same way if we are not convinced that we are truly part of our heavenly Dad's business. In the prodigal son story, the father told the elder brother that everything that he had belonged to him. Yet, the son struggled to believe that was true and chose to wallow in bitterness and resentment. We don't know whether he chose to accept his father's invitation and join the party or not. I certainly hope he did for his sake.

The truth is that every person who has received Christ into their lives has become born again and part of the family of God. We have become legal sons to our heavenly Dad and are part of His business whether we realize it or not.

My prayer today is that God would reveal to each one of us that we really do belong to him and that everything He has already belongs to us. We are part of the family business whether we know it or not! We are not on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking out! May every person who reads this blog hear the invitation of their Father to come into the house and join the party!