Skywatch Friday

Recently my wife and I spent an evening at the ball park.  There is a minor league team in the area and we go to the games occasionally.  Warm weather and puffy clouds make a perfect back drop for America's pastime. It's a very relaxing evening and a great place to people watch.  During the course of the game I watched a family spend enough money on concessions to send a couple of them to Disney World.  Whether we realize it or not, people are watching us from afar.  They notice what we do, how we react to situations, and how we treat others that are under our influence.
The Bible has a lot to say about human relationships.  In fact, of the Ten Commandments, the last five are about our relationships with other humans.  Not the least of those commandments is "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12).  Elsewhere in scripture parents are instructed, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).  Since the father is supposed to be the spiritual leader of the family, he is specifically instructed, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4).  God spends a lot of time telling us how the family is supposed to relate to one another.  We are to treat one another with love, honor, and respect.  Many of us have difficulty in this area and we often treat our friends better than we do our family.  I think part of the reason, for this difficulty, is that we choose our friends, we have no choice in picking our family.  Just remember, God gave you your family and the Bible tells us that, "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)  God gave you your family, immediate and extended, for your benefit, and that you might be a blessing to them.  Embrace your family and allow God to bring the joy into your life that only a family can produce.  Have a blessed week-end.