Hungry for God: A New Family

“And looking about at those who sat around Him, He said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.’”—Mark 3:34-35

Following Christ means giving up everything for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus gave several parables that spoke of the value of God’s kingdom. Jesus said,

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”—Matthew 13:44-46.

There is nothing more valuable than God’s kingdom. To follow Jesus means sacrificing everything—our wealth, our status, our reputation, our friends, and our family. Jesus promised that if we would give up everything, we would get everything and more. Remember His words in Matthew 10:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it”—Matthew 10:34-39.

And again in Luke 12:

“Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law”—Luke 12:51-53.

Did Jesus come to bring peace? Yes, but not to this earth. He came to bring peace to those who follow Him (cf. Luke 2:14). His presence will divide families in once sense, but it will also create families in another. As Jesus said in Mark 3, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

We lose some of our natural family, to gain a spiritual family in greater ways than our physical family. By following Christ, some are turned out from their homes, their parents may disown them, their brothers or sisters may turn from them. But God promises a new and deeper family. It has been said that blood is thicker than water, meaning that the blood we share with our family members is a deeper connection than we have with family or friends. But for those of us who are Christians, we are united by a deeper blood—the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. His blood is thicker, deeper, and more life-giving than any other blood. Through trusting in Him, we have been cleansed by His blood and are united into a body of believers—a family, whereby we have new brothers and sisters who help us in our journey with God.

May we rest in, rely on, and be refreshed by the knowledge that God sets us in a new family. He has not left us alone, but desires to help us. Amen.