[Please do read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Jesus did belong to a family; we know Mary was his mother, and he had younger siblings, although their father was Joseph. With Joseph most probably dead, Jesus was the oldest male in the family. So I’m sure they had good reason to want his attention. And yet once Jesus began his ministry he seems to treat them with no more importance than his followers. Instead he says to those around him, “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (v.35). Jesus is not undermining family relationships. Instead he is saying 3 things: First, our relationship with God is to be more important than any other relationship. Secondly, doing what God wants is to supersede what anybody else wants. (This does not mean that we can use God as an excuse to not fulfill our obligations to family and others). Thirdly, our “spiritual family” should be as real and as important as our blood relatives, or even more. Have you “re-thought” your relationships the Jesus way?

Prayer: Loving God, I call you Father, and you graciously call me your child, when I begin a relationship based on faith with Jesus as my Savior. As I grow in this relationship, teach me to put You above anyone else in my life – after all isn’t it You who put them there? Help me understand that when I do Your will, I not only grow closer to you, I grow in my relationship with the ones I love and along with them You give me spiritual sisters and brothers that I can call my own. Thank you for making me a part of your very special family. Amen.