John 19
Faithful to our Family Responsibilities!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, June 29.
Would you consider yourself a responsible person? Do you find yourself going through circumstances that distract you from your most important responsibilities? Are you caught in the spin cycle of the tyranny of the urgent?
In John 19:25-27, we see the depths of Jesus’ love and His faithfulness to His mother:
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
This is a very powerful moment in the life of Jesus. He died young for us. He was brutalized and betrayed, scandalized and scorned, crucified like a common criminal. In that last night and day of Jesus’ life, He went through greater agony than most of us can even imagine, all for us so that we can be forgiven of our sins and brought back into a right relationship with God—restored unto the family of God with God as our Father. Jesus did all this without forgetting His responsibility as the eldest son to His mother. In the last moments of His life, Jesus ensured that His best friend, John the Beloved, would carry on His responsibility for caring for her in her old age.
I think Jesus just took all of our excuses away for why we are too busy or too important or too anything to not fulfill our family responsibilities. Whether you are in the season of caring for elderly parents or raising children, let us follow Jesus’ example and be faithful to our families and friends and our church and our community.
Seize the moment and be faithful.
If you need any practical assistance or would like to receive a personal phone call, please dial the phone number below and someone from FBC will call you soon.