READ Psalm 128. 1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him. 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the LORD. 5 May the LORD bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. 6 May you live to see your children’s children—peace be on Israel.
FAMILY. A loving spouse and growing children are a great blessing (verses 3–4). But sin in the heart and evil in the world have disrupted the life of the human family. Many wish to have families who don’t, and many who have families wish they had very different ones. There are also people who have suffered terrible abuse within their families. Jesus said that his family did not consist of his biological relatives: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). The church must not only support and repair families but also find a way to become the family of God where everyone, married and single, childless or not, can flourish in love.
Prayer: Lord, too many of us today relate to others at church as fellow customers rather than as brothers and sisters. We go to get religious services, not to live out our common lives together like family. Change my thinking; help me to help my church become a family. Amen.