You're Not My Mother

This morning I was reading Mark, Chapter 3.  Jesus has appointed the twelve disciples, and then goes into a house.  A crowd gathered there, enough people that "he and his disciples were not even able to eat." (Funny to me that this is how they tell us how crowded it is... Thinking about food!) Anyway, then Jesus teaches a lesson.  But, that wasn't what caught my attention this morning, so I'm going to skip to the next part.

Mark 3:31-35

      "Then Jesus' mother and brother arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him. "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
      "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.
      Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

So, Jesus is making an important point here.  He is putting priority on following God, not family tradition.  He is showing that by following Him we are a family, a community.

But, my mama heart was offended for a brief moment. To quote Stephanie Tanner from Full House, "How rude?!" I played out how I would have felt "You know what? You may be God's Son, but I still birthed you into this world.  I fed you, clothed you, and now it's as it you're saying "You're not My Mother! Hmph."

The Bible doesn't say anything about how Jesus' mother responded, but it does seem as though she always puts God's will in Jesus' life first.  Imagine the sacrifice she made while watching Jesus carry out his calling?  You may recall another time when she doesn't know where Jesus is and he is teaching in the temple.  Imagine the trust she had to put in God to let her baby follow him.  Jesus was God in human form, but Mary wasn't.  I'm sure she fought some of the same feelings we do today.   Feelings of wanting to control each moment of our kid's lives, of wanting to make choices for them, and of wanting to be at the top of his priority list. 

My prayer after reading this...  "Lord, help me to put YOUR will first in my kid's lives~ even when it means I have to step out of the way."