Word for the day by Christian Education forum

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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FORUM
Word for the Day
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path".
Psalm 119:105
Family Sunday: Relationships Redefined in Jesus
Mark 3:31-35
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).
We live at a very dangerous time when practically everything is defined by and through religion. In this predicament, human life is in a precarious state of existence today since religions differ in their precepts, dogmas and doctrines and as a result they become exclusive of each other. Religions, along with many other factors, divide life into tiny cubicles within which human beings are suffocated to death.                                                              
Jesus frees us from the clutches of this slavery by redefining every area of life. Value of life and nothing else forms the basis of this redefinition he imparts.One significant area he redefines and thus transforms our perceptions is the area of human relationships.
In the text for today, Jesus clearly gives a new definition to the relationships within the family. Normally, the family relationships are very much closed since the parameters employed to define them are all too human and sentimental. Here Jesus employs a hitherto unheard of criterion to define family. He says, " .... whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
For Jesus, life is rooted in God the Father and he understands nothing outside of his relationship with the Father. Hence his words above. Even family relationships which are generally very personal and protected are understood on this ground by him. The limitations of human love prevents us from accepting others who are not biologically related to us as part of our own family.
This new perspective on family drafted for us by Jesus provides a great release from our own selfish and putrified understanding of family. The one binding force that keeps us all together is surely the relationship that we keep with God and nothing biological. This is the profound truth that this text imparts to us.
PRAYER
Lord our God who is nothing but love, teach us to go beyond our own horizons of love which precludes the vision of others as our own, Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
What am I in Christ will enrich what I am in the family.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church


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