Mark 3:31-35
I absolutely love my family. To the point that even though I was in North Carolina a couple weekends ago, I almost went back this weekend to see everybody. Truthfully, when I was home this last time, I told my parents that something was wrong with my truck so they insisted that I take theirs until they got mine fixed. Well, mine is fixed now, and so I need to take theirs back to them. Unfortunately this weekend is slammed with stuff I need to do to just catch up with life.
This is how it tends to go for me. I always seem to be trying to do things to stay caught up with life. Not really to get ahead, just caught up. I mean, I haven’t gotten ahead with my chores in quite a while now, so I am getting used to having to make long to-do lists for the next day and week, and then having to prioritize it so I can make sure I get part of the list accomplished. Well, today I have gotten several things accomplished, so I decided I should write again. It has been awhile I know.
However, if I could have gone home, it probably would have been a little longer for me to write. I love writing though. I just wanted to see my family and friends from back home again. I don’t really get to go home all that much, or at least as much as I would like. And it seems like every time I go home, my parents and family look a little older. I’m an only child, so you can imagine how much that affects me. If you don’t know, it affects me a lot!
The truth is one day I will lose my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, etc. In other words, they will die. I hate to break the news to you, but so will you, if you haven’t lost many of them already. My grandpa Costner died in 2001, and I cried. Other than him, my dogs are the only other things that I have been really close to that have met Jesus face to face. That is, if you believe ALL dogs go to heaven! FYI – dogs do and cats don’t!
On a serious note, we are to take care, love, and help our families. But can we do this when we are away from them? Or better yet what are we to do when taking care of our families and loving on them comes at the price of neglecting ourselves or our other loved ones? I don’t have the answers, and don’t know a whole lot, but I think this may be why Jesus said what He did in Mark 3:31-35. He just got through talking about community and how we need to be there for one another, and then He starts talking about family.
Sure we will always love our “blood relations” more than anybody else, but our families according to Jesus are those who are on the journey with us; those that are “doing God’s will.” I love my family and friends here in Nashville, Tulsa, and even all the way in Orem. And here’s the thing, if I am who I am supposed to be according to Scripture, then I am to take care of all those individuals as if they were my mom or dad, etc. if they are in this Christian journey. To some degree that is a relief. To some degree it is frightening. You see, I’m not the best son in the world and probably not the best friend, but if we are taking care of each other then I don’t have to be. I don’t have to take all the stress anymore. I don’t have to carry the bulk of the load anymore. And guess what? You don’t have to carry that stress and load anymore either. Why? Because we will do it together, as a family.