My Family

Whom do you consider your family? Are they family to you by blood, by shared history, by relationship? Have you ever sought to define your family tree?

“For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

Jesus says his family consists of people who do “the will of God.” If that’s true, it would include any single person who boldly chooses to do His will. That statement should immediately make you ask yourself, “What is the will of God?” The second question Jesus’ statement should make you ponder is this: “Am I, then, doing the will of God?” Let’s examine those questions today. First, what is the will of God? The way Jesus speaks about it, it seems everyone should know right away what He means: like it’s a no-brainer for first-century listeners. In the 21st century, this question definitely requires some deep thinking, especially in light of the fact that we are privy to the news and the internet. It’s incredible, the number of fools out there, telling you their take on the will of God. These unsolicited opinions include, but are not limited to: murdering people because someone thinks that the voice inside his/her head is God; ISIS (i presume no explanation is needed here); ostracizing people of a different gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, nationality, etc; I could go on and on, but I won’t. The best example is when the people on social media justify their terrible decisions to be of the will of God (just go to any reality TV star’s – or even a newscaster’s – Facebook or Twitter page). But the will of God is not any of these things listed above, is it? The will of God is the act of loving God and others before yourself. We know people who do the will of God, by loving God and others beyond their judgment and persecution of people. The will of God goes further than the superficial dos and don’ts the world constricts itself within. Those who truly seek to embody His will run deeper in sacrifice. They run more counter-intuitively than those who “do the will of God” in media and in extremism. The will of God is a love that acts in shameless sacrifice, as Jesus sacrificed on the cross. Be a part of Jesus’ family. Let’s call it my family– the doers of the will of God.