The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:31-35
“For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Are you a sister or a brother of Jesus? The criteria is right here – whoever does the will of God.
The will of God is not some preordained path you need to figure out and then follow/do. A loving God would not do that to His children! Jesus told us over and over and over again – and showed us over and over and over again just what God’s will is: Love one another.
And that’s not the pie in the sky, fluffy, feel good love – it’s the nitty gritty giving of yourself when you’re tired, when you are up to your neck in your agenda, when you really don’t like someone.
Jesus lived a life of love. He was tired, he was overwhelmed by the number of people who needed healing, he was frightened of the consequences of his words and work, he was always surrounded by people, everyone wanted something from him. It was not a piece of cake for Jesus!
Living a life of love is not for the faint of heart! Being a brother or sister of Jesus requires a lot of courage and a giving heart – and LOTS of grace from the God who loves us!
The God who loves us is the one who enables us to say yes to loving others and the one who gives us what we need to do just that. Pure gift!
For Journaling….
Are you a brother or sister of Jesus? How?
I struggle most with doing the loving thing for someone when….
I hear God saying to me….
