Mark 3
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters[c] are outside, asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus describes his kin not as his blood relations but as those who “do the will of God.”  Which begs the question, exactly how does one discern the will of God?  If you were to write a statement on “how I discern God’s will for me”, what would you include?  For myself,  the quick things that come to mind are prayer, meditation, study, journaling, worship and deep gratitude.  All of these things nudge me towards what I believe to be God’s will.  And each of these paths grow me in Christ to a certain extent but none more than the one thing I do for an hour every Wednesday morning that I didn’t list.  And that is reflection on my practice of these spiritual disciplines, or lack thereof, with my true kin…i.e., others who seek to do the will of God.  Perhaps Jesus knew that to truly accomplish God’s will in one’s life, a church family is vital.

(c) 2015 Deborah Bouis