Jesus’ loyalty lies not with His earthly family – but His Heavenly one. He makes it clear that He considers Himself related to those who hear the Word of God and obey it. When he was at the Temple as a kid – only twelve years old – He was fast to ask His earthly family… did you not know that I’d be about my Father’s business??? That would be His Heavenly Father… God.
This portion of Scripture is another example of how much more the Heavenly realm meant to Jesus. He let us know in verse 21 that true family is the family of God – not the people in the unit He was raised with. Is that to say that the earthly family was not dedicated to God? No – I’m not implying that at all. Jesus just wants to be more inclusive in His description of kin… He loves those who love His Father in Heaven! He knows that this is the love that will really matter when it’s all said and done.
Jesus knows just how much His Father loves us and wants us to one day be in Heaven with Him. Lucinda wrote a beautiful poem about the love of God – it made me think… how many ways do I see God smile every day? Do I even notice those smiles? I’ll spend more time looking for them from now on, I can tell you that.
I wondered if there were other ways we could see our Heavenly Father smile, so I posed the question to my group – A SECOND HELPING OF WELLNESS… WITH A DASH OF HUMOR AND A PINCH OF FAITH. Here are some of the responses I got:
THE BEAUTY OF A FRIEND – Valerie
THE SOUND OF A FLOWING STREAM – Susan
A CHILD’S LAUGH – Mary
BEING ALIVE – John
I’d add to this list – ANSWERS TO PRAYER. I not only saw God smile, but felt a hug! I recently underwent a procedure to lessen my sciatic nerve pain. As you can imagine, I’ve heard stories from others about it – everything from “It doesn’t work”, to “It’s the most wonderful treatment ever!” For me, it was a success and I’m enjoying being pain-free so far! My prayer was answered and I hope I can have quality of life for a long time! 🙂
HEART HUNGER 