God’s Family

“Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:48-50

How wonderful that Jesus includes us in His Royal family, for that is what He is saying here. If we do the will of our Father in heaven, in loving obedience, we are adopted into God’s household. And what better way to truly belong but to study our family’s history? The Bible is not merely a book of instructions, but it lays down the story of our Father and His plan to bring us into our eternal home. We get to know the different members of our family, but most importantly, we will be introduced to Jesus. All the books of the Bible are signposts to Jesus. We can find him not only in the New Testament, but also in the Old. Jesus Himself said in Luke 24 verse 27 that we can find Him in the Scriptures, from the stories about Moses and all the prophets.

I think of reading the Bible as a treasure hunt. So much to marvel at, and to learn. How many times have I wished that what Jesus explained to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24) was written in the Bible. But I suppose if we find the truths for ourselves, we will own it. Just like we will be more confident that we belong in God’s family, we are loved by Him, cherished even, because He sacrificed so much for us. 

Let us read the Bible and get to know our family. When Jesus saw His mother and John the disciple at the foot of the cross, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27) When we get to heaven, wouldn’t it be exciting to see Mother Mary, and John, and Simon Peter, and Moses, and King David, and oh, so many other inspiring, crazy, intimidating, lovely relatives face to face? That is what Jesus is inviting us to! A heavenly banquet with our eternal family!