FAMILY - DAILY DEVOTIONAL

READ MATT 12:46-50
 　

My mother tells my husband that I come with a "no money back guarantee." No matter how much money my husband gives her, Mom is not going to take me back.

As we grow older we discover that mothers usually don't think they have finished with their children—ever. It would certainly seem that Jesus is encountering that attitude here. For most of us this would be appropriate—a sign of mother's love—but this should not be seen that way:

Christ was still talking when the interruption came. At the least, this is rude.

It reflects their anxiety, for as Mark records, they thought he'd gone crazy.

Most likely, Mom was just trying to keep the boy out of trouble. But this could not be done.

As appropriate as this might be in the usual case, Jesus is simply not the usual case. He is God in the flesh; he is not to be interrupted or dragged home quietly.

Taking care of your children, even your grown children, is a good thing. Following the will of God is the best thing. It is still true: the "good" is the enemy of the "best."

For some of us this matter strikes home. We live in families where some are Christians and some are not. The agonizing question comes: who do I please? Who do I obey? The matter cannot be settled by explicit rules, but the principle is this: the will of God must prevail in your life. (Recall, however, that the salvation of those you love is distinctly God's will.) If you value your family and its harmony over God and his salvation, you risk leaving the family of God.

Note, too, that even though she is His mother, this gives her no particular standing above others. Even the distinction of being Mary, who is indeed the most blessed of women, is nothing if she does not do the will of God.

But for those who do the will of God, they are mother, sister and brother to Christ. Brother and sister we can see, but mother? As the church is mother to us, raising us from spiritual infants to maturity, and what is done for the least is done for Jesus, even "mother" applies. Mother—but not Father. That title is reserved for our heavenly Father. The family is defined by its father, and we are the Family of God.