God brings people into His family – and He doesn’t really consult us as to who we’d like brought in and who we’d rather were left out. As you look round at your church family, you can probably see a few people you wish God had left out – and there are probably a few who wish He’d left you out as well. If it were left up to me, I’d leave out all the people who aren’t nice to me and who can’t easily get along with me.
But you and I aren’t the ones who make the choice. God decides who’s in His family – who belongs. Our job is exactly the same as in our physical families – to learn to get along with whomever God puts here. We’re all part of the one family, we all belong on an equal basis.
Will we always get along wonderfully with each other? Not very likely.
- We’ll have differences of opinion.
- We’ll rub each other up the wrong way.
- We’ll have personality clashes.
And on top of those things, we’re still sinful people who Selfishly want our own way most of the time. Yet, we belong to this family and God wants us to work together.
If it comes to a choice, which family should have priority – your earthly family or the family of God?
Can you develop true family relationships within a short meeting once a week? As a church, should we be doing other things to help develop the family relationships?
( BATHURST EVANGELICAL CHURCH )