Month: June 2022

²⁰ Walk with the wise and become wise,
    for a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13

We saw yesterday that the first thing Solomon lost when he turned away from God was Peace. God raised up three enemies against him and he actually tried to kill Jeroboam, 1 Kings 11:40. Just as King Saul had tried to murder David. It’s so easy to blame others when things don’t go our way, but the true answer may lie with us.

Rehoboam, son of Solomon, went to Shechem to be made king by all Israel. The people were willing to serve under him, but wanted a reduction in  the workload Solomon had demanded from them. Another sign of growing discontent.

⁴ ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, BUT NOW LIGHTEN THE HARSH LABOUR AND HEAVY YOKE HE PUT ON US AND WE WILL SERVE YOU.’ 

⁵ Rehoboam answered, ‘Go away for three days and then come back to me.’ So the people went away. 1 Kings 12

(People can only be oppressed for so long. Sooner or later they will rise up and fight back, sometimes with explosive consequences.)

Rehoboam first consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon.

‘How would you advise me to answer these people?’ he asked.

⁷ They replied, ‘IF TODAY YOU WILL BE A SERVANT TO THESE PEOPLE AND SERVE THEM AND GIVE THEM A FAVOURABLE ANSWER, THEY WILL ‘ALWAYS’ BE YOUR SERVANTS.’ 

The word SERVE appears three times in different forms in the answer given by the elders. They urged Rehoboam to treat the people well (answer them Favourably) and they would ‘ALWAYS SERVE HIM’.

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, ‘What is your advice? 

¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, ‘My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ 

Rehoboam ‘repeated or parroted’ the exact words of his young peers. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO ALLOW ANYONE TO PUT WORDS IN OUR MOUTHS. They may say their words to you alone but the consequences will be all yours if you repeat them in public.

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfil the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 

The people rebelled against the harsh words of Rehoboam and the land of Israel was split and never really recovered. Jeroboam also rejected God’s offer to build him a lasting dynasty, like David. 1 Kings 11:37-39 Instead the majority of God’s people were led into idolatry when Jeroboam set up golden calves (idols have to look good) at Bethel and Dan.

Bad counsel given to Kings, or any leaders, can be much more serious as it will affect those under them. Solomon ‘held fast to his pagan wives’ and started the downward spiral of Israel. That’s why the enemy always tries to get control of leaders by any means possible.

May God bless and keep you today.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and become wise,
    for a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13

We saw yesterday how an ageing King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, had his heart turned away from God by those closest to him. Solomon started well, but didn’t finish well. His father, King David, had a much tougher life but loved the Lord to the end. We have to run the whole race to receive the prize, we can’t opt out before the finish.

⁷ When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16

Solomon, whose name means ‘Peace’, was chosen to build the Temple for God in Jerusalem, because unlike David he hadn’t shed man’s blood. However, when Solomon’s heart turned away from God he lost that Peace.

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 1 Kings 11

²³ And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, …

²⁶ Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, 1 Kings 11

When we lose peace in our lives we should definitely seek God for the reason. Peace can also act like an umpire if we’re seeking to know God’s direction for our lives – no peace, don’t take that way.

²⁹ About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, ³⁰ and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes.

A new cloak for a new day and the twelve tribes were to become separated, no longer one people. THE FIRST THING DISOBEDIENCE BROUGHT WAS DISUNITY, A TEARING APART. ALL PEACE WAS GONE.

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, (Solomon was no longer at peace, murder was in his heart) but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death. 1 Kings 11

²¹ ‘You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, “Raca,” is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell. Matthew 5 

Jesus took the whole concept of murder a lot further, anyone with murder in their hearts would be deemed guilty. Thank God through Jesus sacrifice we can confess, repent and receive forgiveness for all such sins.

To be continued.

God bless and keep you today.

²⁰ He who walks with the wise grows wise,
    but a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13

The wisest king who ever lived, Solomon, behaved unwisely – nobody gets it right all the time and we are responsible to hear from God for ourselves. God was wiser than Solomon and He’s wiser than anybody we’ll ever know.

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women … . ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because THEY WILL SURELY TURN YOUR HEARTS AFTER THEIR GODS.’ NEVERTHELESS, SOLOMON HELD FAST TO THEM IN LOVE. ³ He had seven hundred WIVES OF ROYAL BIRTH (Standing in the world, but not before the true God) and three hundred concubines, AND HIS WIVES LED HIM ASTRAY. 1 Kings 11

God had spoken through Moses to warn Israel not to make treaties, nor intermarry with the peoples of the land of Canaan. It’s one thing to ‘walk with people’ and ‘be a companion or friend’, that’s serious enough. To enter into a Covenant of Marriage takes the bonds of unity to an entirely different level.

¹⁵ ‘Be careful not to make a treaty (Don’t come into agreement) with those who live in the land; for when they PROSTITUTE THEMSELVES TO THEIR gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. ¹⁶ And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and THOSE DAUGHTERS PROSTITUTE THEMSELVES TO THEIR gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Exodus 34

The scriptures see the worship of anything other than the One God as a form of prostitution and Solomon’s wives led him astray.

⁴ AS SOLOMON GREW OLD, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. …⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

Solomon changed as he grew older, it may have been imperceptible at first, but then his heart turned away from God. It’s good that we start out well on our walk with the Lord and Solomon was greatly blessed by God in his beginnings.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, WHO HAD APPEARED TO HIM TWICE. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

Solomon’s heart was changed by his foreign wives and he turned away from God. Starting well is important but we have to finish the race to get the prize. People and things that would distract and hinder us from walking with the Lord must be rejected.

²⁰ He who walks with the wise grows wise, Proverbs 13

Walk with the wise and finish your race, there’s a great prize for all who are faithful to the Lord here.

God bless and keep you today.

²⁰ He who walks with the wise grows wise,
    but a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13

It’s like a fork in the road for some of us, which way will we take? Will we take the way of the wise or travel in the company of the foolish? Whoever we walk with may determine the destiny of our lives as we learn by association/friendship.

25 ‘At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. Matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (only in Matthew’s Gospel) details two equal groups of five wise and five foolish. No one went it alone, they were in two distinct groups. We feel reassured when we’re in the company of others, but have they really set their hearts on following the Lord? We mustn’t allow human friendships to overtake our walk with the Lord, that can be very dangerous for us! Just because others behave in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s right for our lives.

‘Oil’ often represents the Holy Spirit and the five wise virgins had oil to spare, but the foolish only brought the minimum. They came with the oil in their lamps, but the bridegroom was delayed until the midnight hour and they weren’t prepared, their lamps were going out/fading. No one knows the time when the Lord will return, but we’ll have  to be prepared to wait until He comes.

⁶ ‘At midnight the cry rang out: “Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!” (The bridegroom had come, but five couldn’t go out to meet Him)

⁷ ‘Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.”

When the time for the wedding ceremony arrives we won’t be able to borrow from anyone else, it’s only what we have with us that will count. The wise told the foolish to go and buy oil for their lamps, but the delay cost them their place in the wedding ceremony.

¹¹ ‘Later the others also came. “Lord, Lord,” they said, “open the door for us!”

¹² ‘But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.”

¹³ ‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The waiting was the Testing and through the wait the ten virgins were separated into two groups. There were no other options, those with oil were allowed to enter, however the others were not. The Lord said to them, ‘I don’t know you.’ We must walk with the Lord here, to be welcomed into His wedding supper on that day.

May God bless and keep you today.

 

 

Jesus’ five meetings with ladies in John’s Gospel.

MARY HIS MOTHER, changing the water into wine, John 2

Even the Lord responded to a mother’s plea. John 2:3

Jesus cared for His mother, even from the cross. John 19:26, 27

SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL OF SYCAR, John 4

Jesus left the ones who wouldn’t listen and went to those hungry and thirsty for His words. John 4:2, 3

Jesus told a lone woman about the change of an age, ‘worship God (anywhere) in Spirit and in truth’. Today we’re moving into the Age of the Kingdom. John 4:23

THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, John 8:1-11

Stop throwing stones, we’re all guilty. John 8:7

Jesus didn’t condemn her either, ‘Mercy Triumphs Over Judgement’. James 2:13

THE TWO SISTERS, MARY AND MARTHA, John 11 & 12

Both sisters had strong faith in the Lord, but different gifts and both were loved by Him. He loves us all for who we are.

Extravagant Love received an extravagant response (Mary poured oil on His feet and wiped them with her hair). Mary’s lavish gesture was misunderstood and criticised. John 12:3

MARY MAGDALENE AT THE EMPTY TOMB, John 20

Mary ‘wept and waited alone’ at the empty tomb, but then Jesus revealed Himself to her.

God is not just God, He is our Father.

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20:17

Have a blessed weekend.

FORGIVEN MUCH, LOVES MUCH. Luke 7:47

Jesus fifth recorded encounter with a woman in John’s Gospel was with Mary Magdalene. (Once again only found in John)

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. John 19

It’s easy to skim over the account of Christ on the cross without really appreciating what these women were witnessing; it must have been horrific. Mary Magdalene was one of those who saw first hand the sufferings and death of Jesus.

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ John 20

It would seem from this account that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone and then told Peter and John that it was empty. The only thing remaining of her Lord, His body, was gone. The disciples went back to their homes but Mary stood outside crying. (Reminiscent of Hannah who ‘Wept and Waited’ alone while seeking a son) Mary was obviously grief stricken after Jesus’ crucifixion, but she stayed at the empty tomb.

The Twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; … Luke 8:2

Mary Magdalene was one of those women who had benefited greatly from Jesus’ ministry. This may be the reason she remained alone at the tomb after the disciples had gone. She first saw the two angels who asked her, ‘why she was crying’?

¹⁵ He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’

She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).

He first spoke to her as ‘woman’ and after by her name, ‘Mary’ and she recognised the Lord. She was the first person to whom Jesus revealed Himself. A lone woman waiting and crying met the risen Lord before any others. Mary met with the Lord alone when she was deeply moved  – perhaps a lesson for us today.

¹⁷ Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending TO MY FATHER AND YOUR FATHER, TO MY GOD AND YOUR GOD.”’

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her. 

Mary was the first to witness the birth of a new era on the earth. Christ had forever paid the price for mankind to come to, ‘His Father and our Father, His God and our God’.

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The Lord is no man’s debtor, Hallelujah.

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The Lord bless and keep you today.

 

11 Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of MARY AND HER SISTER MARTHA. ² (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘LORD, THE ONE YOU LOVE IS ILL.’ John 11 (Account of Lazarus only in John’s Gospel)

Jesus fourth encounter with ladies in John’s Gospel is with two sisters , Mary and Martha. They might be thought of as representing two different people Types and Jesus loved this family.

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days, (Heaven’s Timing isn’t always as we’d wish) ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’

In the meantime Lazarus died. Humanly speaking all Hope was gone and sometimes God waits for that to happen. We can then be in no doubt that we need a miracle.

Martha and Mary do represent two different Types, but they both had strong Faith in the Lord.

²¹ ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’

³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

Both sisters said the the same thing, ‘Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died’. They’d both had faith for healing, but God was taking them beyond that level to resurrection faith! DOES GOD WANT TO TAKE SOME OF US TO A NEW LEVEL OF FAITH TODAY – Stretching us?

³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.

‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’

Martha was EVER THE PRACTICAL ONE, once the stone is removed there’ll be a bad odour. Which again was normally true, but not this time! Lazarus came out, very much alive.

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha SERVED, (her gifting to honour the Lord) while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about half a litre of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. (Mary’s act of worship for Jesus) AND THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH THE FRAGRANCE OF THE PERFUME. John 12

Martha and Mary, two sisters, but two different people, honouring and blessing the Lord in their individual ways and  we were told the Lord loved them both. Yet Mary’s extravagant gesture was the one that was attacked! Those who give much to the Lord, especially in public, will often be attacked by others who think it’s too much!

God bless and keep you today.

 

‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery (therefore guilty). ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. NOW  WHAT DO YOU SAY?’ John 8

A woman who was in big trouble, the third lady we’re going to consider in John’s Gospel. The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, always together and always looking for a way to accuse. In our legal systems we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but in many cases evidence has been suppressed to get a guilty verdict. The Religious Jews worked incessantly to prove Jesus was guilty and a law breaker. They falsely thought it was their law they were the sole arbiters of enforcing it. In their religious zeal, like Saul before his revelation on the road, they hated the Son of God. Jesus words greatly upset the law enforcers.

⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

So they brought this dear woman to Jesus, the latest attempt to entrap Him. Sin often results in widespread damage, like collateral damage in war. It destroys more than the one(s) directly involved and that’s the first lesson from this account.

Jesus responded in an unusual way, by not immediately answering them, but stooping and writing on the ground with His finger. But they didn’t give up, they kept on questioning Him as He wrote in the dust.

⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘LET ANY ONE OF YOU WHO IS WITHOUT SIN BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER.’ ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. (Some say He was writing the names of those who’d been involved in immorality.)

How many of us today would stand accusing brothers and sisters if we thought on Jesus’ words.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Her accusers left one by one, oldest first. They’d been so sure their accusations were right, but the Son of God told them to look closer to home. Before we start denouncing others ( get on our high horse) we should remember Jesus words and consider our faults and indiscretions.

¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

¹¹ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. (her only recorded words)

This whole episode began with the aggressive questions of the accusers, literally looking for blood. Jesus and the woman remained virtually silent. It’s not easy to be silent when others are shouting accusations at us, but Jesus sided with the accused lady. Many times God is not on the side of those making accusations.

‘THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU,’ Jesus declared. ‘GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN.’ John 8

The word ‘Now’ is used twice in this account,

NOW  WHAT DO YOU SAY? and NOW LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN. Jesus did have a NOW Word for the woman but it wasn’t condemnation.

May God bless and keep you today.

 

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ John 4

The second woman we encounter in John’s gospel is an unknown Samaritan woman. (The Samaritans were considered a mongrel or mixed race people by the Jews).

The setting for John 4 begins with Jesus ‘leaving and going’.

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – … ³ So He LEFT JUDEA and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴ Now he had TO GO THROUGH SAMARIA. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, John 4

Jesus left the religious Jews for a time, because they thought they knew better and didn’t want Him (JOHN 5:39) and went through Samaria, where an untaught people WERE EAGER TO LISTEN TO HIM. Could this happen again? The people who were outcasts were the hungry and thirsty ones!

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Where are the Hungry and Thirsty ones today?) Matthew 5

Jesus began a conversation with the woman by asking her to give Him a drink – He broke every religious code to speak with this woman alone.

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

The conversation flowed until the woman in turn asked Jesus for the Living Water He’d spoken about.

¹⁵ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, GIVE ME THIS WATER so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’

The Lord changed the conversation by telling her to go and get her husband and then followed this by a personal word of knowledge to her. You’ve had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. (Not judgemental, just a revelation of who she was.)

The woman spoke to Him of worship, she knew about God, despite the way her life had gone. (“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” Blaise Pascal)

Jesus then told this unnamed woman, with the tarnished past, that a new era had now come, when God would not be worshipped in a certain place, but in Spirit and Truth.

²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

²⁵ The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, who speak to you am He.’

This woman then told the people of Sycar about the man at the well who’d spoken with her about God.

²⁹ ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’

These outcast people knew that the Messiah was to come, but they never dreamed He would call with them, that’s Good News this woman brought to her town.

WHERE ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS BESIDE US?

God bless and keep you today.

 

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. JESUS’ MOTHER WAS THERE, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, JESUS’ MOTHER SAID TO HIM, ‘THEY HAVE NO MORE WINE.’ John 2

John’s Gospel makes reference to women on at least five (the number of Grace) occasions. The first lady was Jesus’ earthly mother, Mary, who interceded for the hosts at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. (Was Jesus mindful that one day He would Celebrate His own wedding with His bride in Heaven?)

⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Revelation 19

The wedding feast would have been cut short, but Jesus and His disciples were there.

⁴ ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ 

⁵ His mother said to the servants, ‘DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU.’ (DO WHAT HE TELLS US, NOT WHAT WE THINK – wise counsel for the Church today.)

Jesus was reluctant to get involved, but it was Mary who told the servants to follow Jesus’ directions. DO ‘WHATEVER’, doesn’t matter how strange it seems, do what He says. Mary was the one who interceded for those at the wedding and at the same time thrust Jesus into Public Ministry. Jesus famously turned the water into wine, the best wine of the whole feast – God keeps His best to last!

¹¹ This, the first of His miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. HE THUS REVEALED HIS GLORY AND HIS DISCIPLES BELIEVED IN HIM. John 2

Mary stayed with her son, even when He was hanging on the cross, she was faithful to the end.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ WHEN JESUS SAW HIS MOTHER THERE, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘WOMAN, HERE IS YOUR SON,’²⁷ and to the disciple, ‘HERE IS YOUR MOTHER.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19

Even while hanging on the cross, Jesus remembered His earthly mother and appointed His disciple to care for her. Family relationships are important and the Lord showed it by His example toward His own mother. It’s so easy to get drawn away by the things the world thinks important, but the Son of God and Son of man, provided for Mary, His mother. May we also be mindful of those near and dear to us.

May the Lord bless and keep you today.