Matthew 10:34-39
New International Version (NIV)
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace
to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I
have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will
be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and
follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose
it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Have you ever been told or just assumed that if you
accepted Christ as your Savior that all would be well and you would never have
any other problems? If you have thought
that, you might want to examine this scripture.
Jesus is clearly telling His disciples that the road will not be easy.
I have been fortunate to be raised in a Christian
family and accepting Christ was the right thing to do but there are some
countries where this is a shame to the family just as it was in Christ
time. I have met people in the past who
have told how they had to give up everything to follow Jesus. They were from families who did not agree
with the Christian faith and they took the risk of even being put to death
because of their belief in a risen Savior.
It is so hard to fathom that how a family would disown one of their own because
of their faith in Christ. I believe what
Jesus wants us to realize is that our faith is our own. It is not our families’ faith, it is not a
decision we make lightly and then continue to live the way we have for
years. Accepting Christ is a sacrifice
we make to deny ourselves and follow Him.
The Jewish people didn’t not want to claim Jesus as
their Messiah because He wasn’t what they expected in a King. He was rejected by the leaders of the church
because of His proclamations. On one
occasions Jesus own family came to visit
Him while He was ministering to a group of people and He did not receive them, look
in Mark 3: 31 – 3 New International Version (NIV) 31 Then Jesus’ mother and
brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him,
“Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother
and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated
in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother
and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my
brother and sister and mother.”
( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%203:31%20-%2035&version=NIV)
This is a perfect example of putting your Father
above your family. Do you think it was
easy for Jesus to not leave the room and go greet His family? If you note, He looked around the circle and
He saw people who were hungry for His words and then claimed that these are the
ones He was there to serve and continued in His ministry. So many times we think that we will minister
until it affects our relationship with our family. We have to have “family time” so if a tragedy
comes on a Friday night during “family time” we cannot respond because it might
harm our family, it might damage our children, and cause bitterness. Yes, it might and I think that is why Jesus
says that some family members will turn away from you, there may be strife but
the question is, “Are we doing the will of the Father?” If we are here to please others and not God
then we need to get our priorities straight.
I don’t know what Christ is calling you to do that is out of the
ordinary. But I do know that if we truly
pick up our cross and follow Him on a daily basis, there may be things that we
really don’t want to do because our comfort zone is being invaded. That is most likely the time that we need to
act and do as He asked.
As you seek Him, remember, He is your Father in
Heaven and He cares for you. Nothing
that man does, whether family, friend or foe can ever separate you from the
love of the Father.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
No comments:
Post a Comment