We lost our identity when we distanced ourselves from God through disobedience. The absence of God-awareness leads to moral depravity. God in his faithfulness, sent his Son into the world that those who believe in him will not perish but will be restored to eternal life. The Gospel reading reveals this fundamental truth. It opens the search light within. Our true self is revealed through his Word in seeing evil and wickedness within. The critical issue is the battle with sin inside. The Lord comes to deal with that. He wants to make us more like him, in him. We discover our true identity in God. “Why are you searching for me, did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49). We are to claim and live in this true identity. Let us also enter deep into prayer, so that the Lord would purify and restore us through the Word. The hostility of our mind has been reconciled in his body through his death, to present us without blemish to God.

PRAYER: Abba Father, may I claim my identity as your child in living a transformed life in Jesus. Amen.