Sunday, March 30, 2014

Family

Today we went to a family reunion that my wife’s family wash having nearby. There were people there that my wife had never met, and I had not met any of them. In talking with the people there I discovered that they too had never done this before. They had a sense that they wanted all of the family to begin to get together and enjoy each others’ lives. It reminded me of how important our family is. It also reminded me of what Jesus said about family.

Matthew 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

There have been many sermons preached on this. For me, I do not think Jesus was saying that our blood family is not important. Quite the contrary. I think He was saying that just like there is a special bond for those that are our family by blood, there is an equally important tie to those that follow God. We become family. For those of us whose families are distant to us, we can be comforted in knowing that we have an even bigger family in our fellow believers.

In the end, we all need each other. We need to know that God wants us to be close to Him and to each other. We need to reach out to both of these families, and rejoice in what God has done for us.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone our our true Father. We long to be with You and the rest of our family. We long for that time when we can rely on these relationships to help us all be better members of Your nation of believers. Please forgive us for distancing ourselves from You and from them when we do. Please send us Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.