Family
The Scripture for today is from the words of Joshua:
Joshua 24:15
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
God loves families. I can only deduce that by looking at how the Bible shows His interactions with families, or how many of his commandments are centered around dealing with families and preserving their structure. God shows through illustration how important the family structure is without spelling out certain roles or recognizing only specific types of families. There are both legitimate and illegitimate families who are honored by God’s blessing and inclusion.
I think that is why it says
“For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously” in Malachi 2:16.”
Not that God rejects people that divorce, or hates them, but the results of what happens when a family breaks up. He hates the way people damage each other and hurt each other, because God is good, and He wants us to be good to each other.
Peacemakers
One of the ways to be a peacemaker is to make peace and reconciliation in the family -between you and your family members. If you think about this that is exactly what the Son did when He left heaven; what the Father desired when He sent His Only Begotten Son; what the Holy Spirit continues to work towards in convincing us all of the work that is done to reconcile us to our God. Reconciliation, between God and man, is the heart of the gospel, and an important way to understand it is to look at what makes a family.
Family Importance In The Christmas Story
- Jesus was sent into a humble, even precarious situation. The Father in heaven choose a time when the House of Judah was of relative unimportance.
- There were no more kings of Israel, and no one much paid attention to the genealogies of them, except for God.
- There were no great palaces or worries of succession, manipulations for sake of prestige in the lineage of David, now that power was in the hands of the Roman conquerors and their chosen leaders. So now, Jesus could arrive in the form of a man of no consequence, born to a mother who had no apparent husband, and be accepted quietly into the family of a man who only needed to believe the vision of his dream to accept both conditions.
- It was a family’s care and commitment that vouchsafed the Christ child in dangerous times and from hostile rulers.
God had chosen families to be the priesthood, and to be kings, and finally to be the tribe from which the Messiah would come, and one of the signs by which He might be known.
Questions to think about and discuss
How do you see your family?
What do you believe God’s plan is concerning your family?
A couple years ago, I bought a small decorative scroll from World Market and wrote down the declarations concerning my family and its members. We read it out loud on Christmas Day. It reminds me of putting my faith in God’s good plans for us and hoping for His blessing on us as a group of people who love each other, and are bound by family ties.
Fun to do
Perhaps that is something you would like to do. You could buy a scroll or make one from pretty origami printed paper (or something similar!) Two small dowels to roll up the scroll would be attached to either end. A decorative pen to write your own declarations of blessings for your family.
Then, when Advent is over, have the members of your family read those blessings out loud. On Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve are good times to do this.
Here is something similar I found – Indian Wedding Invitation Scrolls
Source: indianweddingcard.com via Ilona
Today we can sing the carol “O Come All Ye Faithful”
