Shaped By God's Word

Scripture – Luke 8:19-21: 19Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Reflection: On the one hand, this seems a little cold. I have a hard time understanding why Jesus would say this. It seems like He leaves His family standing outside.

At the same time He makes the point that obedience is one of the marks of discipleship. Hearing God’s word and putting it into practice are two sides of the same coin. My goal is to keep that reality alive.

I don’t want to just gather knowledge about the Bible. I want to let the Bible – God’s living word – shape my actions and my attitudes. Personally, this is a growing edge for me. Over the past few months I’ve been more focused on it than ever before. It’s really as simple (and as hard) as it sounds: Hear God’s word – put it into practice.