Family Ties

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity." (Psalm 133:1)

**** All Bible quotes are from the English Standard Version

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Over the July 4th weekend, I attended a family reunion. Actually, two. The one on Dad’s side was held Friday-Saturday at my home church. The other, on Mom’s side, was a picnic Sunday afternoon at a church camp. It was good to see many so family members I had not seen in years, even decades. I also met many not seen before, especially younger ones, such as great nephews and my cousins’ grandchildren. The event went well. It is nice to see good, working relationships between people, especially those bound by bonds of blood.
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Appropriately, the affairs were staged in Christian facilities. Christian faith and values have been strong on both sides of my family for generations. Both sets of grandparents were born-again believers in Jesus Christ, as were my parents. As good as it is to maintain earthly family ties, it is essential to maintain unity within the Family of God. Those of us who are Christians are bound by a bond of blood, not genetics but the Blood of Jesus: ". . . knowing that you were ransomed . . . with the precious blood of Christ . . ." (1Peter 1:19-20).
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The New Testament sees Christians as members of a family. Paul quotes the Old Testament, where God said, "I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me" (2 Cor. 6:18). We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Believers are referred to as "brethren’ in Acts (Acts 11:1, 29). The Apostles called their readers "brethren" (Rom. 12:1; James 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 3:13). And Paul advised Timothy to appeal to the members of the church as family (1 Tim. 5:1-2). In a sense, we can refer to weekly services as "family meetings," and annual campmeetings, conferences and conventions as "family reunions," because that is indeed when the Family of God gets together. The first verse of Bill Gaither’s well-known song says:

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******** You will notice we say "brother and sister" ‘round here;
********** It’s because we’re a family, and these folk are so near;
******** When one has a heartache, we all shed the tears
********** And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.1
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One thing I did not expect. A book. A sister presented a book Dad left for me when he passed away. She found it among Mom’s things. This is a very special book, 123 years old. The Gospel Delineator and Survey was written by my great great grandfather George R. Hand, a Christian minister from the nineteenth century. I will read this book not only for its information, but to get in touch with my ancestor, to know his mind and spirit. I cannot sit down and talk with him, nor walk with him, but I can read what he wrote.

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We do have a book left for us by our Father in Heaven. It is jam-packed with information: history, personal stories, poetry, advice, rules & principles, etc. There is a lot we can learn by reading this book. That is why many people use it as a reference guide, a how-to book, a referee to settle arguments, etc. But it is much more than that. The best benefit of reading this book is getting in touch with the author, getting to know him better - his character, his intentions, his thoughts. Unlike my ancestor, we can sit down with God, the author of the Bible. We can talk with Him and walk with Him if we have a relationship with Him, if He is our Father.
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In our family, the Family of God, we look forward to a family reunion, to meet not only the family members we already know, but also those whom we have never seen. We do not know the date and time of this reunion, but we do know the place. Until that time, many of us will go on to the "Foyer of Heaven" to await the grand event. Even better than meeting all the brothers and sisters, we will finally see our Father.

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1. Bill & Gloria Gaither, "The Family of God", © 1970 by William J. Gaither
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Article © 2009, Wesley Vaughn