When I was a kid, my parents divorced. It brought much pain. The most painful aspect of that experience was the realization that my family, as I knew it, would be never be the same. Spending every other weekend separately, with either my mom or my dad, caused me to feel like I didn’t belong anywhere. I felt alienated and alone, desperate to have back what was lost forever.

For some people I guess, going through a divorce as a kid can lead one into becoming callous or cynical towards the idea of family. It might even cause such a person to eradicate any compulsion towards getting married themselves as they grow into adulthood, thinking that the idea of family is just some bit of nonsense which was not really possible.

Fortunately, I didn’t develop this sort of mindset. Instead, I desired to have my own family, and I knew that if I ever did, I would be determined to never let it fall apart like mine had as a child. Through God’s grace, I now have a family of my own. I can’t express into words what a blessing this is. I’ve been married for just over 27 years now, and my wife and I have two sons (20 and 17), and a daughter (15). Never could I have imagined (when my parents broke up) that I would once again regain what I once had.

Another Family

However, there is another family that I am now a part of, which is even more special… God’s Family.

This coming March will be 18 years since I became a Christian. That was the moment that a different sort of satisfaction was experienced, one which was even more significant than the satisfaction that I had gained since becoming a husband and a father. Prior to putting my faith in Jesus Christ, even though I was already a father and a husband, I still felt a sense of alienation and loneliness. I felt these things because I knew that I was not at all connected to God. I knew that He existed (as we all do), but I also sensed that if I was to ever face Him, it would not go well for me… because I knew my own thought life and my desires.

But then, I heard the Gospel…

The Gospel

When I was told the “good news” I learned that the immortal God took on mortality (in the person of Jesus) so that He could die, in order that the mortal individual who repents and trusts in Christ would then take on immortality (the gift of eternal life) through faith in Him. As a result, that individual would then learn to live in accordance with His Spirit… by the power of His Spirit. In other words, such an person would now do God’s word, demonstrating that they were now a part of “another family.”

My Mother and Brothers

This is what Jesus had said when He was told that His mother and brothers had come to see Him…

Luke 8:21 (HCSB)
…He replied to them, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”

It’s one thing hear what God has said. But, it’s quite another to do what He has said, and as a result, to then be characterized the way Jesus describes.

Godspeed, to the brethren!

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