Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “Finding Rest in Family Ties “. A really good look at Joseph and his dysfunctional family. As the quarterly so pithily states, “Family relationships often are complicated and painful, leaving us restless, hurt and carrying loads of emotional baggage that we, in turn, off-load on others” (Quarterly for Sabbath, July 31). And such is the plight of our families, our culture, our nation and our world. So very few families “function” as created by our Heavenly Father. But then, even our very first “family” did not “function” as created. Murder was first realized in that first family. So, families since the beginning have all been (more or less) dysfunctional… because the leaders/ parents of the families are all sinners. Every one.
The quarterly gives us the antidote for our universal dysfunction. “If we are dependent of others to tell us what we are worth, then we will be in for a rough ride and be horribly confused because not everyone is going to appreciate who we are or what we are like. Instead, we need to find our self-worth in what God thinks of us – how God sees us – and not in the roles that we currently have” (quarterly for Tuesday August 3). Amen!
And this is the antidote for our sinful condition, too. The love of our Father. And that is why “the cross”. It is really the ultimate reason for the cross. The dynamic and overarching demonstration of Divine and Heavenly love. A Divine love that will win our hearts, change our perspective, convert our minds and motives, and lead us back home. It is also what will lead us to the only dynamic that can change our “family ties”. Love. Love that will look-for and see the Divine imperative in all our family interactions. Just like in our lesson this week. Love from Joseph. A divinely inspired love that healed so many family wounds. Enabling them to find a measure of “rest in (those) family ties” (quoted from our lesson title).
May it be so for us all.
With brotherly love,
Jim