Come Be My Follower - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site

“I LOVE THE FATHER” 133
ed. He kept it strong and thriving throughout his earthly
sojourn. Let us see how.
12 Think again of the incident when young Jesus spoke
up at the temple in Jerusalem. Recall his words to his anxious
parents: “Why did you have to go looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in the house of my Father?”
(Luke 2:49) As a young boy, Jesus evidently did not
yet have any memory of his prehuman existence. Still,
his love for his Father, Jehovah, was intense. He knew
that such love naturally found its expression in worship.
So there was no place on earth as appealing to Jesus as
his Father’s house of pure worship. He longed to be there
and hated to leave. Moreover, he was no passive spectator.
He was eager to learn about Jehovah and to express
what he knew. Such feelings did not begin when he was
12 years old, nor did they end at that age.
13 In his prehuman existence, the Son had eagerly
learned from his Father. A prophecy recorded at Isaiah
50:4-6 reveals that Jehovah gave his Son specialized education
regarding his role as the Messiah. Even though
such education included learning about some of the
hardships that would befall Jehovah’s Anointed One, the
Son learned eagerly. Later, after Jesus came to earth and
grew to adulthood, he remained eager to go to his Father’s
house and share in the worship and the learning
that Jehovah wanted to see promoted there. The Bible
thus reports on Jesus’ faithful attendance at the temple
and at the synagogue. (Luke 4:16; 19:47) If we want to
keep our love for Jehovah alive and thriving, we need
to be diligent about attending Christian meetings, where
we worship Jehovah and deepen our knowledge and appreciation
of him.