His First Duty

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21

The marvelous events of the birth of Christ were over and His first duty began, and may I say, "Ouch!" The requirements of the Law of Moses had to be met and our Lord Jesus was not exempted. What? Nope, no exemptions for the King of kings and Lord of lords.

In our suffering, we sometimes hear that temptation to think that Jesus somehow, somewhere got a pass on some amount of suffering. We know better, but that small whisper comes anyway. From the His birth in Bethlehem in a stable to the ritual circumcision and on to His crucifixion and death, we read and know He suffered greatly. Yet, there is still that temptation that hits like a dart from the bush.

Of course the Enemy would love to have God's children writhing in the clutches of doubt and those darts are difficult to fight because the flesh which we bear likes to believe such awful things. When we suffer a little, it is easy to believe that not only does our Lord not understand but that our brothers and sisters in Christ do not suffer as we do. We could hardly have two greater wrong thoughts in one sentence! Jesus knows our suffering because He suffered much greater sufferings and He is here with us even now. Our siblings in Christ also suffer because they share the same Savior and the same Enemy.

A brother or sister in Christ may hide the pain better than others, but we who believe in Him will endure some suffering in this world. Praise God we are all counted worthy to share our small amount of His suffering.

Bucky