It is at this time of year that the world seems to think more about Jesus, and for a month people act and treat others better than at any other time of the year. What about the other months of the year? It is as if they journey through life without Jesus.

In the second chapter of Luke, we find the account of Jesus being separated from his earthly parents. Joseph and Mary had traveled to Jerusalem to observe the feast of the Passover. This was a yearly trek that was made by the Jews. Jesus was 12 years old when this account happened.

Luke states that after the days of the feast were fulfilled, the family started back home. There must have been quite a large number of people in the company that was making the journey, for Joseph and Mary failed to notice that Jesus was not with them.

They had gone a day’s journey when they started looking for Jesus. Looking among family members and friends, they could not find him so they went back to Jerusalem to look for the boy.

Any parent can empathize with Joseph and Mary. Not knowing where your children are is cause for alarm. After returning to Jerusalem, it took them a while to locate the lad. Luke records that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting with the teachers asking and answering questions.

Some today are making life’s journey without Jesus. They have never realized how much he is needed in each and every person’s life. Others believe that if one member of their family is religious then that is enough for the whole family.

This simply is not true, for each person is accountable for themselves. Look at this passage, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

Every person needs to have Jesus with them in the journey of life. While it is a personal thing, it must also be seen that all men are to follow Jesus the same way.

The gospel message preached in the time of the apostles is the same message that is to be preached today. God is not a respecter of persons. When Peter was sent for by Cornelius, he came to this realization that all men are able to come to God (Acts 10:34).

Paul, by inspiration, wrote that if the message delivered is different from the gospel he preached, it was not to be accepted. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8,9).

It must also be pointed out that the gospel Paul preached was able to save souls that obeyed it. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:” (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

It is by obeying the gospel that we get Jesus in our lives. We must obey even as those who heard the first gospel message preached obeyed.

Peter told them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost … And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:38, 40-41).

Make sure as you journey through life that you make the journey with Jesus every day, not just one month out of the year.