Jesus was deeply sensitive to the concerns of family life. He did not come and live in isolation. He was born and grew up within the framework of a family he loved: Mary, Joseph, His brothers and sisters. He revealed this love in the hour of His greatest need when at His crucifixion, He looked down from the stake to commit His mother into the care of His beloved disciple, John.

Examine today to see if you share the same deep desire of your spiritual Brother Jesus in fulfilling the Father’s will! Forming that brother relationship with Jesus Christ begins with doing the will of God.

It is this deep love of family that makes another statement He made so intriguing. With His brothers and mother outside, a group that had gathered around Jesus said, “'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.’ But He answered them, saying, 'Who is My mother, or My brothers?’ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother’” (Mark 3:32-35).

Who truly belongs to Jesus’ family? Who are His true brothers and sisters?

Jesus conveyed the vital truth that seeking to do God’s will, rather than our own, marks us as part of His family.

What is God’s will?

Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:38-40).

Raising men and women up to everlasting life is God’s will! But God won’t carry out His will separate from man’s free will. Men and women have to make a choice to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and demonstrate that belief through the love they show to God.

Belief in Jesus Christ is never described in scriptures as simply an intellectual assent. This is not belief in a theory. Rather, belief in Jesus is a deep trust and embrace of Him as the One who has given us the opportunity to have eternal life in God’s family.

It is the deep understanding that “…God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

And have no doubt, this requirement to believe in Jesus Christ is one prescribed in sincere love. It is meant to drive us fully to the shelter of the One Who loves us more than His own life.

Once He has reached out and this love is accepted, the life of a person should never be the same. In fact, this love teaches us how we are to live our life from that point forward. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-13).

Our family relationship with Jesus Christ begins with the shared vision of fulfilling our Father’s will

Christ’s love teaches us to fulfill the will of the Father by living in such a way to honor His love.

This family relationship is not earned out of obedience, rather this family relationship is born out of our understanding that Jesus died for us. And the commitment to honor His great sacrifice in how we conduct ourselves according to the instruction of God’s Word. As we walk in His way we discover a deeper kind of family intimacy.

So, while Jesus’ earthly brothers and sisters shared a physical home with Him, they would never truly abide with Him unless they expressed their love by keeping His word. Only a deep love expressed in a shared commitment to fulfill the Father’s will initiates a deeper kind of brotherly bond.

Jesus’ words to the crowd that day would have been so important for Mary and Jesus’ brothers to accept. Mary needed to understand that Jesus was not merely her son but also the Son of God. Jesus’ earthly brothers and sisters needed to know Him as their spiritual Brother and a Savior.

Unfortunately, some of Jesus’s physical family rejected Him. Jesus knew the pain of distance in those physical family relationships. The words of Psalm 69:8 ultimately find their fulfillment in Jesus: “I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children…”

Likewise, many of us lack the close bonds of our earthly families.

Some of us have sadness and a sense of alienation and isolation when we think of those whom we shared a home and grew up with. If you find yourself lonely and somewhat rejected, the truth is that you aren’t truly alone. If you live in the will of the Father, He and Jesus will make their home with you!

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23).

When we are dedicated to fulfilling God’s will, we receive from Him blessings that will help combat loneliness and emptiness

Listen to John’s words: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:9-11).

Our Father and Brother are not remote from us. They are not way up a hill somewhere that you have to climb and climb to reach. Rather, our Father sent His Son, our spiritual Brother in the person of Jesus Christ and He actually walked onto this earth to open His arms and open His family to us.

Therefore, if you are in Christ, you are not alone. God has not redeemed you to live in isolation. You need not be alone. You need not feel alone—you have been made part of a new family.

Your life can change as a result of the discovery of belonging!

Are you lacking joy? Do you want a home filled with the warmth that only a close family provides? Do you want Jesus and our Heavenly Father to make their home with you? Do you want to have a brother who will be forever by your side?

Examine today to see if you share the same deep desire of your spiritual Brother Jesus in fulfilling the Father’s will! Forming that brother relationship with Jesus Christ begins with doing the will of God. He wants you to repent of sin and live by His example of righteous obedience to His Father (John 15:10).

This is the ultimate truth today. We either belong to God or we do not. Jesus is either our Brother or He is not. And our belonging is directly linked to our believing. And our believing is directly related to looking up to our loving big brother Jesus as we strive to become more like Him.

We must take to heart the significance of this instruction so that while we enjoy the blessing of earthly family relationships we resist the temptation to lessen our commitment to the Family that will last forever.

Make a commitment to fulfill God’s will in your life. May Jesus’ words ring true in our hearts today, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”