Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:135.

LORD, Your word to me, Your servant,
is like pure gold;
I treasure what you say.
Speak to me through Your Word I pray. Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 12:46-50

⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

In these five short verses we find Jesus “practising what He preached” back in Matthew 10:34-37. There He warned His disciples that they would face moments when their love for Christ and their allegiance to Him and His Kingdom would mean a dividing line was drawn between them and others in their family who did not trust, love and follow Christ. Now, in Matthew 12, we see the same principle playing out in Jesus’ own life.

Jesus was surrounded by disciples who had come to believe that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. They had committed their lives to following Him in faith. According to John 6:29 this meant that they were doing the will of God.

There, in John 6:29, Jesus says: ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.’ And in Matthew 12:50, He declares, ‘whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.‘

So, Jesus is not suggesting that we earn our way into the Father’s family by doing good deeds. No. The only “work of God” we do to become part of His family is to believe and trust in Jesus Christ.

But at this point in Jesus’ ministry, His earthly family did not yet believe in Him. They had no faith in Him as the Saviour and Lord. And so, for Jesus, there was an invisible dividing line. It was not that He no longer loved His earthly family, but that these disciples had become His family in a new and unique way. And that was the point He wanted them to get. Now that they believed in Him and followed Him as Lord, there was a bond between them and Jesus which set them apart as Family.

So the command of Jesus we focus on today is this:

Believe in Me and live your life, as My Family, trusting and following Me.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ,

• I will believe in Him with all my heart.
• I wil trust and follow Him in all things.

Lord Jesus, I believe in You. Help me to overcome every moment of unbelief. Amen.