Note from Randy: Greg Stier has written a Christ-centered, biblically-grounded, and from-the-heart guide to what a normal Christian life should be, but for most of us is a radical one. His new book Radical like Jesus is a clear and engaging call to follow Him and share His good news with others. I highly recommend it. (Watch this video to see Greg sharing more about the book.)

Hope you enjoy this excerpt from Radical like Jesus.

To become radical like Jesus we must be intentional, passionate, and curious when it comes to spending time with the Father.

Nobody embodied this more than young Jesus. Although there is but one New Testament passage about him during his preteen and early teen years (see Luke 2:40-52), these thirteen verses are packed with insights about the boy-about-to-become-a-man and his singular passion to be with the Father.

In Jewish culture, the transition from boyhood to manhood took place at the age of thirteen. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus was twelve and on the brink of manhood. At the end of his family’s annual trip to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, he was left behind and found himself in the Temple courts for three days, asking questions of the rabbis and giving profound answers to their questions. By the time Mary and Joseph found him, there was a crowd of teachers surrounding him who were astounded by the gravitas of his answers and the penetrating profundity of his questions.

When Mary rebuked Jesus for his decision to stay in Jerusalem instead of traveling with the caravan back to Nazareth, he simply answered, “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (verse 49, NLT).

It is clear from this passage that Jesus was fully aware of who his real Father was—not Joseph, but Yahweh. It is also clear that Jesus longed to be with his Father in his house, the Temple.

Why did Jesus enjoy being in his Father’s house? Although a direct answer is not given in this verse, the underlying answer is hidden beneath the surface, waiting to be dug up.

Jesus longed to be where God’s Word was being publicly read and explained.

Jesus was asking questions, processing the teachers’ answers, honing his theology, and arriving at biblical conclusions. He was doing this before the best of the best—and they were shocked at his depth of understanding. The word used here for “understanding” in the original Greek is sunesis, which means “a bringing together.” The implication is that Jesus was utilizing synthesized reasoning to connect the dots in ways that bring deeper insights than the rabbinical teachers had previously considered.

If we want to learn to be like Jesus when it comes to being with our heavenly Father, there are three stark principles for us from this story: Be intentional. Be curious. Be passionate.

Be Intentional

Luke 2:41-42 says, “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual” (emphasis added, NLT). The annual festivals were attended “as usual” by every committed Jew. In the Jewish culture, males were commanded to attend three festivals in person per year: Passover (also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread), the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles (see Exodus 23:14-19).

Yet Jesus had more than just three annual festival “as usuals” in his life. He most likely had personal times of learning from his earthly father, daily times of Torah mastery, weekly times of learning at the synagogue as a family, and, of course, his own time of meditation on God’s Word.

The Holy Scriptures were central to his “as usuals.” They were central to his time at the Temple and synagogue. They were central to his home life and personal life.

Are they central to yours?

We are living in a culture of Christianity where five-minute app devotionals (which are better than not having devotionals at all!) have replaced deep, reflective, and prayerful reading, study, and meditation on God’s Word.

Most Christians I know have never read the Bible cover to cover. They skim the top of texts like rocks skipping on water. But God desires us to plunge deeply into his Word, like a large anchor plummets to the depths of the ocean. Listen to the words of David:

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.

The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:7-11

God’s Word is perfect, refreshing, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, firm, righteous, precious, and sweet. David believed this. Jesus, the Son of David, believed this. They scoured the Scriptures because they believed this.

Do you believe this? Do your “as usuals” reflect this?

• Your annual “as usuals” of spiritual retreats, Bible conferences, etc.
• Your weekly “as usuals” of church attendance, Bible study, small group, etc.
• Your daily “as usuals” of time reading and reflecting on God’s Word, journaling, etc.

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” If we want to be like Jesus, then we must have habits like Jesus.

Jesus mastered Scripture. He read it, meditated on it, memorized it, and obeyed it. So should we.

Be intentional like Jesus. Make spending time with God in his Word your biggest “as usual.”

Be Curious

I was a troublesome student. I terrorized my teachers—not because I was not paying attention or because I was goofing around all the time (although I did a lot of that). No, I terrorized my teachers because if I didn’t understand a subject or a concept, I would relentlessly ask questions until they explained it well enough for me to understand. I’m a slow learner, but a determined one.

Jesus was a fast and determined learner. He was curious. His sharp mind, uninhibited by sin and distraction, worked so quickly that it astounded the top teachers of his time. Luke describes it this way: “Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (2:46-47, NLT).

Jesus asked questions and assimilated answers. He wrestled through subjects until he wrestled them fully to the ground and pinned them down.

We should have such an approach when we take time to be with our Father. Ask God hard questions, and wrestle through difficult subjects. Do the same with the preachers and teachers in your world. Be curious, and don’t stop asking hard questions until you get the answers from God’s Word—even if you’re a slow learner like me.

Be Passionate

Jesus was so passionate about being in his Father’s house and understanding his Father’s Word that he spent three days and nights in the Temple, without his family, as a twelve-year-old boy.

Where did Jesus sleep during these three days? How did he eat? Did he eat? Did he care?

It seems like the only thing on his mind was understanding God’s Word better. During these seventy-two hours, he relentlessly quizzed the rabbis. He was passionate to understand as much as he possibly could before his parents found him.

It wasn’t just the acquisition of knowledge. He didn’t want just to know more; he wanted to grow more, to love his Father with perfect love and obey him with perfect submission. That was his passion. That was his obsession. That’s what made food, sleep, rest, and the safety of being with Mom and Dad a distant second.

Jesus was passionate about being with the Father and knowing his Word.

I’m a passionate guy. When I preach, the veins in my neck pop and I sweat like Tommy Boy in a sauna with a broken thermostat. As someone once said, “When I preach, I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.”

But as passionate as I am about preaching, I want to be more passionate about my time with God in his Word.

We need to pick a time and place we meet with God every single day. That place becomes our version of our “Father’s house.”

My “Father’s house” is at the end of our long couch by the gas fireplace. Every morning, “as usual,” I meet him there. I seek to spend the first hour of every day with God. During this time, I pray, read his Word, meditate on it, and sometimes journal a prayer back to God about a verse that really communicates to me. I ask God the hard questions. I wrestle through difficult passages until the Holy Spirit, the ultimate teacher, helps me understand. And then I seek to put whatever truth I’ve learned that day into practice in some tangible way.

People often ask me if I ever went through a time of rebellion against God. I haven’t. To be sure, I have struggled with sin and faltered and failed, but I have never stopped fighting the good fight to be holy and to serve Christ.

When they ask how I can explain this, the only answer I can give them is that I am relentlessly in God’s Word every single day, seeking his will, asking him to fill me with his power to conquer the temptations of that day.

I have chosen to be in my Father’s house. And by God’s grace, I will never leave.

Join me there.

Photo: Unsplash