Daily Journal: 13 December

Isaiah 42:3 (NLT)

Look After Our Own

We naturally look after our own. Most people have an internal drive to look after and help the people they birth.

From babyhood to adulthood, we wouldn’t dream of handing them over to anyone else; no other family; no other institution; no other authority. We are where it begins and ends for our own. We stand guard, we watch over them, we check in, we have conversations with, we share intimate, close details that others aren’t privileged to know, we provide for, we encourage, we protect, we guide, and we hedge. Sometimes with a trembling heart, sometimes with a fierce heart, sometimes with a bemused heart, always with a full heart.

1 Timothy 5:8 (NASB)

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

God insists it should be that way. We should never stop fighting for our own. For their God-given place in this world.

In the same way, God is always for us as we are for our own.

Mark 9:42 (NCV)

“If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea.

God is jealous over His children. His perfect, pure, avenging love is the foundation stone for us to build on. It is important we know that. It is important we pass that on to our own.

Isaiah 42:3 (NLT)

He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.

What do we need to do to ensure the spiritual and emotional well-being of our own? We are stewards. They are first His. He has given them to us to usher into a place of spiritual and emotional maturity, understanding His righteous love does not mean our perfection, but our obedient thanksgiving. It's a different posture of being.

Even when we have to do hard things, He instructs us in the way we should go. Even when we might feel uncertain, He makes our steps sure! Trusting in Him as we take each one of those steps is what we need to learn to do best.

Psalm 37:23 (NIV)

The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;

Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV)

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.