Family
The Lord Jesus holds the family unit very close to His heart - It is very very important to Him. If we go to the Word of God in John:
“When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” John 19:26-27 (NKJV)
We need to remember that when Jesus made this statement He was hanging in excruciating pain upon the cross. Nails had been driven through His hands and feet, yet He still took the time to tell John to look after His mother and His mother to look after His very faithful disciple.
In the business of our schedules, whether it be agriculture, business, mining, teaching or be it ministry, we must never forget our priorities.
First, the Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ
Our spouse - Our husband or wife.
Our children
Our extended relatives, namely brothers, sisters, parents, in-laws, etc
Then after that, our business, ministry, career etc.
Unfortunately, we are seeing too much divorce, separation and adultery taking place in the world today. We’ve got to get back to basics.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36, NKJV)
Well, we can add there “or his family.” There is no point in winning the whole world and losing your family. When we stand before the Lord one day, I firmly believe the first thing He is going to ask is: “Where are those that I gave to you to look after? Where are your children, your husband, your mother, your father?", before all the rest.
I read an account of the American president, Barak Obama, when he visited his grandmother in Kenya. She was sitting outside her hut, shelling maize to feed her chickens and she said to him, “If everybody is your family, you don’t have any family.” That is quite a startling statement made by a rural woman, who was obviously extremely wise - We need to be so careful that we don’t accommodate everybody else at the expense of our family.
Billy Sunday was one of America’s greatest evangelists. He was a professional baseball player and then became a Christian and an Evangelist. He used to slide into the platform. He preached from on top of his pulpit... his widow, Mar Sunday was having a meal with Billy and Ruth Graham and she warned them to be careful to make sure their family was in order. She said, “My four sons are in hell today because I went everywhere with Billy.” That’s a very sad statement.
We need to understand that charity (love) begins at home and the most important glue that holds the family together, is prayer. The family that prays together stays together!
Look after your family.
Jesus bless you,
Angus and Jill Buchan