Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
In Psalm 28:10 we read, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in” (ESV). In context, the Psalmist writes in a time when it was not at all unheard of for parents to abandon or otherwise reject children. Even in the relatively kind and charitable people of Israel, people were disowned, disinherited, and forsaken.
What is a Christian response to this situation? We understand hardship and that it is not only real but also often crippling. Being forsaken, rejected, or otherwise dealing with loss in our families and friends is a terrible problem. Yet it seems to become more common as time passes. The idea of family commitment for as long as we live no matter what has been replaced by various cheap substitutes based on our feelings. These are not trustworthy. But God is entirely trustworthy. Christ, the resurrected Lord, promises not to leave or forsake his people, but to be with them to the very end of the world. We have every reason to expect he will keep his promise.
Yet how does the Lord keep this promise? He does it primarily through His people, those who act as his hand outstretched in this world. He does it through us, as we are family to those who have no family, as we care for one another, as we love and serve our neighbor. The Lord does not forsake His people. He makes us a family.
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