Mar 18

If Jesus is accepted as God's means of union with Him, then there is union. If that offer is not accepted, disunity results. Jesus brings both unity and disunity -- a surprising truth for some people, but he himself said so:

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother' . . . a man's enemies will be the members of his own household" (Mt.10:34-36).

Many who have left one of the world's religions for Christ have experienced this truth first hand. They have indeed been cut off from their family, and it is not unusual for that family to try even to kill them for their loyalty to Christ.

How can the Prince of Peace be the source of such division in families? Because our earthly families are not the highest level of family relationship that we can have. Because we live in this world and are constantly exposed to its ways every day, we tend to live as though our life on this earth is all there is.

Our eyes must be opened through the work of the Holy Spirit to see that there is more to life and more to family than that which we are so accustomed to in this world. God has a much bigger family for us to belong to, and Jesus came to make it possible for us to enter into that family relationship with God and other of his children -- if we want to.

Scripture for today: Matthew 10:32-42
Thought for today: My true family is of God, not of this earth.
Prayer for today: Father, I ask you to open my eyes to see the family of God to which I belong, that I may never love my own family more than yours.

MAR 18