FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “99+1”

Whatever it takes.

Even if you haven’t used this phrase, I’m going to assume that, since you’re still breathing, you’ve at least heard someone else say it.  These three words are used to show an incredible commitment to something.  It could be sports, a competition, relationships, personal goals, etc.  Someone might commit to do “whatever it takes” to: be number one, get into their favorite university, beat the rival team, win someone’s heart, buy a much-desired something-or-other, lose those 20 pounds…you get the idea.  

Are you a WIT (Whatever It Takes) kind of person?  I know you wouldn’t literally do anything to accomplish your goals.  After all, you love Jesus and are always going to aim for a holy, righteous life, right?  I thought so.  But setting aside the literal meaning, are you the kind of person who does well at intense commitment and discipline to achieve a goal?  Some people are like that.  They’ve never set a goal they haven’t met.  Others do better in “sudden-death” kind of scenarios.  Maybe you spent all semester ignoring that major project for school, but in the last two days, you kick it into gear and do what needs to get done. 

Maybe the WIT gene doesn’t fit across the board for you, but I bet there’s at least one or two areas in your life where you’ve shown some extreme dedication.  Share with your family a WIT moment in your life.

During January, we’ll be exploring the three parables Jesus tells in Luke 15.  It’s a great trilogy!  But the verses from today set the scene.  They tell us what’s going on that prompted Jesus to tell the stories.  

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (v 1-2)

Here we see the WIT attitude that Jesus models—He was willing to do whatever it took to reach people with the love of God.  He didn’t care what it would do to His own reputation, He wanted everyone to know love and mercy, even if it meant breaking every cultural rule and eating with the social outcasts.  (Ironically, the Pharisees did whatever it took to NOT hang around with the the same people.)  If we could trace our spiritual heritage all the way back, I bet some of us have faith genealogies that began at this dinner party.  One of your ancestors started the whole “I believe in Jesus” thing in your family, because the Savior did what was taboo and sat with them.  Wow!

As Christians, we want to have that same WIT attitude in our families that Christ models for us.  It’s fine to be committed to your activities and your goals, but there are greater things we can be committed to—namely, sharing Jesus with those who need to know Him.  How can your family do “whatever it takes” to spread the Good News?  Who might the Holy Spirit be putting in your path who needs to hear about grace and mercy, who needs to hear it from you?

End your time together brainstorming ways you could be a WIT family for God.  Are there outcast kids at school you could start eating lunch with?  A family in the neighborhood no one seems to talk to, but you could invite over for a meal?  People in the community who are forgotten about, but you all could start spending time with?  Close in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide your family in doing whatever it takes to seek those who are lost.