When many seemingly random events occur within a space of a few short hours, I know that God is trying to reveal something to me. So I take notice and wait on His whisper…and it usually comes in the middle of the night when I’m lying awake unable to sleep!
I was reflecting on the parable of the lost son – Luke 15:11-32. How the father threw a party to welcome his lost son home, and the other son got pretty upset that he had been there with his dad the whole time and had not been thrown a party for all his hard work.
When God wants to show me something, it’s usually through a question. I felt him say “what would have happened next/after the party was over?” I reckon what would have happened next is that the father would have let his son have a few days of settling in, then he would have sat the lost son down and said, “Right now you’re back, do you want to continue to be a guest, or do you want to become an integral part of this family?”
Because guests that come into our home are served and honoured, we love them and treat them well – but there is the limit. Family members on the other hand get it all…They get the blessing, everything that is ours is theirs, they get unconditional love, they are showered with our praise, inspired and encouraged to live their God-given destinies, disciplined in love, financed and equipped, we stand and enclose them with our armour through their battles, and we never let up or give up.
But along with the blessings, comes work. A family member is expected to put family as a priority, to sacrifice for each other, to serve the guests, to pitch in when the work is on, and to have our back at all times. It is an intimate, tight-knit circle that stands strong against everything the enemy tries to throw at it.
Family is the vehicle that God has given us to model to the world His love and to do it with any amount of success means working at it constantly. It isn’t easy, but BOY IS IT WORTH IT! So I have challenged my family this week to think about where they stand…would they be content to be treated as guests – loved and served to a point, or do they want us as a family to break through to a greater level of intimacy as we weave together our family tapestry. The choice is ours to make.
