41 “Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?”
42 The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces[a] and assign him a place with the unfaithful.[b] 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it[c] will be severely beaten. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.
Reflection
Last month, I wrote that my birthday was the next day, July 29. Today I’m writing on my sister Jane’s birthday. I grew up in a Catholic family and we had scads of birthdays. Eventually, I was the middle child, number four of seven. But my mother has five kids in seventh years, so really, I was the fourth of five years for the early part of my life. Then she had two, six years apart.
This devotional doesn’t have anything to do with the scriptures I was assigned but it does have to do with family, something I am well aware of.
So today is my sister Jane’s birthday. But she died on Oct. 3, 2024, the first of my sibs to die. Since that time, we have also lost Jimmy, who we 58 and had Downs’. Both our parents died in 2012, six weeks apart. And now there are five of us. But Family isn’t necessarily about blood. I’ve had many friends over years, and some I call family.
I had a few in grade school and some in my neighborhood, Ron Bedry comes to mind. I definitely considered him family. Some I’ve worked with. But the large majority have been a part of churches I’ve attended.
I lost my first wife in 2017, after a 41-year marriage. I was fortunate to find and marry my first girlfriend from the summer of 1971. We were married in 2022. We continue to make friends, and some we call family.
I would hate to go through life without family. But even if my blood family is gone, I know that I will still have family. Family to get me through the low times in life. And family to celebrate the high times.
Today, many of my family are members of the churches we attend here and in Florida. And Peter tells us to love the family of believers. I do, do you.
By Rick Reed
For Pondering and Prayer
Family is so important. I feel sorry for those who do it alone. My prayer is that we all find family.
Prayer: My Lord Jesus, Help us never to be alone. Help us to cling to our family to get us through highs and lows. And help us to seek after you with our whole heart, and soul and mind. In Jesus name, Amen.
