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his miraculous birth DEVOTIONAL one marvel followed COMMENT another and Mary must F. W. Farr have had many things in her heart, vs. 51, to be explained at a later time. What she saw in Jesus during his childhood is not recorded and it is useless to conjecture. Less than sixty words are used in Scrip ture to record this period, but these words have profound significance con cerning that which constitutes perfect boyhood. His early years reflected only that which was holy. There was a nor mal development of His perfect mind and body. There was no sinful tendency to obstruct and taint His growth. He enjoyed the favor of God and was char acterized by a superior wisdom which increased as the years went by. He carried the faith faculty of childhood into manhood. His faith began in child hood and shone- bright and radiant throughout His life. The first recorded • sentence that fell from His lips called God His-Father and His last recorded sentence upon the cross did the same thing. To be about His Father’s busi ness was the chief duty of His child hood and the grandest thing of His manhood. To carry childhood into man hood and fill mature life with enter prise, enthusiasm, sanguineness and freshness is true greatness. It is our privilege even in old age to be young in heart and young in hope and sympathy and love. Childhood is rather a quality than a stage of human life. Paul said, 1 Cor. 13:11, that when he was a child, he spake and thought as a child. This is the invariable habit of a child, to speak before he thinks. When Paul be came a man, he put away childish things. In other words, he reversed this pro cess and thought before he spoke. Childish things belittle and impoverish adolescence, but child-like things enrich and adorn stalwart manhood and splen did womanhood.
Pity the Christian who does not grow and wax strong— “ strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” . God needs strong men, “ strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Jesus grew in wisdom. We must know and do the will of God if we are to grow in wisdom. We must let His Word dwell in us (Col. 3:16). We must seek that wisdom which is from above (Jas. 3:17). There should be no slack ers among God’s children. We must cease to be children. We must grow. We must be strong. We must be wise with heavenly wisdom. The watchwords of our lives should be, “ Grow; go; get; give.” What a wonder it is to us as we seek to realize how He could wait patiently all those years, fn a little village, doing what He was bidden to do, waiting pa tiently until His hour came as He waits now at the Father’s right hand until the glad hour comes when He will come back to Jerusalem and rule where He was once beaten with many stripes. QUESTIONS. (1) Why did Joseph and Mary go to the Passover Feast, and why did they take Jesus with them? (Ex. 23:14-17.) (2) Why did they journey a day without knowing whether He was in the company? (Ps. 42:4.) (3) What is suggested by His three days’ absence? (Matt. 12:40.) (4) Why did they seek for Him in the temple? (Psa. 27:4.) (6) Was it prophesied of Him that H e should be wise? (Isa. 11:2.) (6) When was He called? (Isa. 49: 1 , 2 . ) (7) What ’was His Father’s busi ness? (Isa. 61:1, 2.) a s The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of Gen. 3:15, called the pro-tevan- gelium, the first prophetic passage of Scripture relating to the Gospel. After
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