The Family

Scripture:

Heb. 2:10    It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.  11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,  12 saying,
    “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
        in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
13 And again,
    “I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
    “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

Observation:

Photius reminds us that Jesus is God by nature and our brother by grace. (Fragments on the Epistle to the Hebrews 2.11)  When we begin to ponder the incredible impact of Christ's incarnation it becomes a bit overwhelming. His love for us compelled Christ to become what we are so that we might become like him. We are invited into family life, to take on the very holy nature of God and Christ, fellowshipping with the Trinity. This is life in the family.

Application:

Some of my best memories in life come from hanging out with the family. I have always loved spending time with my parents and brothers. It's not often that we all get to hang out together but when we do, we have a blessed time. There's always a lot of laughing and reminiscing.

Favorite memories of family time with our girls will take me to our apartment in Moscow on Ulitsa Mariy Ulyanovou. I can see us sitting around our breakfast table, talking and having devotions together in the morning. I loved walking to school with the girls when they were little. Picking them up at the end of the day was the best because they talked non-stop all the way home, filling us in on the day.

Playing table games together is also a fond memory -- or watching the latest video we had been able to procure. Listening as Chuck sat on the couch reading the "Chronicles of Narnia" to the girls out loud in the evenings was great. Just being together as family was such a warm and safe feeling.

Jesus came to bring us into the family. All the rights and privileges of family life are ours when we enter into this relationship with our holy God. Time to settle in and embrace all that it means to be a part of this family!

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the incredible love shown to us through you.  Amen.

If you would like to read more "Reflecting the Image"  click on the image to take you to the NPH bookstore.The book is also available in Kindle format on Amazon.com.