Devotion for 12 June - Relationships

A brief prayer is offered that you can add to your daily prayers this week. The scripture is from our Sunday Service Bulletin for today.  The Archie Bunker quotes are from www.imdb.com.

GOSPEL READING Matthew 12: 46-50 (English Standard Version)

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But He replied to the man who told Him, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Devotion: All in the Family

Some of us of a certain age remember the Situation Comedy “All in the Family” with father figure “Archie Bunker”. Sure it was all about family but there was always some sort of family tiff going on especially between son-in law Mike (“the meathead”) and Archie. Example-  Edith (mom): “Mike is family”.  Archie: “Gloria is family. What's standing behind me is an accident of marriage.”  Also, we were exposed to Archie’s homegrown philosophy: “Like the Good Book says, "Let him who is without sin... be the rollin' stone.” And “God don't make no mistakes, that's how He got to be God.”  Today we start a sermon series in which we will discuss our relationship with God, our church, and others and learn about the importance of relationships. In the exchange in today’s text Jesus is not saying negatives about his mother and family, He is just trying to show the importance of spiritual relationships over physical relationships. He is saying that we should put God first and let that guide our physical relationships. The Archie Bunker family and sometimes even our own family, may not always agree and sometime or another someone in our family is likely to disappoint.  If you have a relationship with God, He will not disappoint -- He will always be there for you.

We pray: Lord thank you for being there for me!   Amen