Thought for March 29

 History:

• 1798: Republic of Switzerland forms
• 1852: Ohio limits work day for women and children to 10 hours
• 1867: Congress approves building the Lincoln Memorial
• 1943: Meat, butter and cheese rationed
• 1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of spying and sentenced to death
• 1959: "Some Like It Hot" released
• 1961: 23rd Amendment allows DC residents to vote in Presidential Elections
• 1971: William Calley found guilty in My Lai massacre
• 1974: Terracotta army discovered in China
• 1976: 8 National Guardsmen indicted for Kent State shooting
• 1978: Last "Carol Burnett Show" airs
• 1982: "Chariots of Fire" wins Best Picture [today is the birthday of Vangelis who composed the music]
• 1987: Lady Vols win NCAA Basketball Championship
• 1989: "Rain Man" wins Best Picture
• 1998: Lady Vols complete three-peat [39-0]
• 2017: Britain triggers Brexit
• 2020: Fauci warns of 100,000-200,000 Covid deaths in US
• Born: Santorio Sanctorius [invented thermometer], John Tyler, Cy Young, Eugene McCarthy, Man O'War, Sam Walton, John Belk [retailer], Billy Carter [Billy Beer], Walt Frazier, Earl Campbell, Kurt Thomas, Elle McPherson, Lucy Lawless [Xena], Jennifer Capriati
• Died: Charles Wesley, John Jacob Astor, Mark Hopkins, Ray Palmer ["My Faith Looks Up to Thee"], Gustavus Swift [meatpacker], Bill Travers ["Born Free"], Johnnie Cochran, Patty Duke

Thought:

Spending some time on Mark 3:35 today. Here Jesus tells us about family. Most of us have great families. We have or had great parents, we love our siblings, our children are wonderful and of course the grandchildren are special. We have aunts and uncles, cousins, and those non-blood relatives who are just like family. Some of us have adopted family or step-families. Think about all those you are related to today. There is an entire industry to help us identify and know our families through DNA testing or genealogy. When I used to ask my grandfather to tell me about our family, he would say, "I stopped going back when I found a relative convicted of horse theft in North Georgia." 

Now look at who Jesus says are in His family--whoever does the will of God. WOW! He doesn't say whoever was born in a good family, whoever joins the church, whoever does a lot of social services, whoever talks right and acts right. He says my family is those that do the will of God. Now this makes sense. We are saved through the blood of Christ. As He told Nicodemus, we must be born of water and the blood. So when we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we become a blood relative to Him. Having begun the process of dying to self so that He may live in and through me, we seek to do God's will. That makes us family. 

Now think of the implications. First, everyone who is in Christ is our relative. We all know that feeling when you meet someone and our spirit speaks to their spirit and we know without a doubt they are family. Second, we have the right, no the command, to expand the family. We are looking for brothers and sisters to add to our family--the family of God. Think about that today--everyone you meet is either a part of the family or a person who can be invited to be part of the family. And one day we will be asked "how many family invitations did you extend in My name?" 

Lord, help us love the family that You have created and be eager to introduce new brothers and sisters to the One who can make them part of the family. 

Blessings

Larry