I miss family reunions. In the past, our family on both my father and my mother’s side, would gather on what always seemed to be the hottest day of summer to rehearse favorite memories and eat great southern dishes.
I don’t think there was any gathering where I didn’t hear an aunt or cousin say, “I can’t believe how much you have grown! You look exactly like your mother!â€, if it was my mom’s side of the family. If it was my father’s family who was gathering together they of course would say, “You look exactly like your father!â€
It is not so great at 54 years old to be told how much you’ve grown since last year…but how I still love hearing that there is a family resemblance.
When someone delights in seeing how I am favoring the likeness of my parents, I begin to think about my destiny to favor the likeness of my Lord. The Apostle John puts it this way:
What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.
But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.
But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning.
Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him.
All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.Â
1 John 3:1-3 The Message Translation
“Glistening purity?” Yes, the goal of the Father is to have His children grow in likeness to Him. to bear a family resemblance. It is for my character to be shaped so that it will manifest His kindness, mercy, love, purity and wisdom. For my thinking to be reordered so that I think His Word as my first thought and know that following it is not only right but perfect for my life.
“To put it another way, God is making us holy. But there is a requirement in learning how to submit to God’s authority: humility. We don’t get very far in the development of holiness if we are defensive about our flaws.
That is why truly holy people are so easy to be with. They have been around God too long to try to pretend they are perfect. They are the first to acknowledge their pride and their faults.
Then why are holy people so joyful and radiant?
One reason is that they know the answer to their character problems doesn’t reside in them but with God. They don’t try to please God through efforts of the flesh, such as moralism and legalism, but through their obedient walk in the Spirit.†((Becky Pippert, A Heart Like His, Crossways Books, 1996, p. 146-7))
It seems that while families plan reunions to stay close to each other…the Father planned communion. Through the gift of His Spirit, His Presence is so immediate and near that His character begins to rub off on us. We bear a family resemblance.
He has promised us a great banquet when we meet Him face to face. I find my silly self “humbly†hoping that He loves to serve fatback in His green beans just the way my mama always would for our family reunions!
Talk about being joyful and radiant! What joy to eat those beans, some homemade potato salad and brown stone front cake.
“O, what a foretaste of glory divine….â€
In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul is intent on helping Christians learn how to walk! This skill is something that we do without thinking. In fact, it is something we all think we mastered around the first year of life. Paul seems to think we need to be re-taught.
