I remember driving down an old dirt road in Genesee County, Michigan, with Dad behind the wheel, Mom up front next to him, and three of us girls sitting in the back.

Probably not even in seatbelts, because that’s how we rolled before the whole “Buckle Up” campaign spoiled our in-car freedom.

We were headed to some gathering, I’m not even sure what, and Dad was giving us his “Remember Who You Are” speech.

Let’s not go in there kids and act like hoodlums. 

He didn’t actually say it that way, but the point was, you’re part of this family, you’re a Lenhart, you belong here, and you represent us.

That speech didn’t always produce the desired results for our parents, but it instilled in us a sense of belonging. We were proud to be part of our family, at least until certain seasons of adolescence. 🙂

I was proud to call my sisters mine—except maybe when they did something really embarrassing.

But we have a Brother who sits at the right hand of God in heaven, and He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.

He is the Word who spoke us into being and now sits at God’s right hand in heaven, God who became fully human in order to restore us to holiness.

Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Hebrews 2:11

Jesus calls us brothers and sisters, and He’s not ashamed of us.

Isn’t that amazing? Because you guys, He already knew.

He knew the lies we’d tell and the pride we’d hold onto and the sin we’d excuse away because everybody’s doing it. He knew we’d struggle to fully believe and we’d cling to fears rather than clinging to Him. He knew the hurtful words we’d say, how we’d spend our time and money, and how wrapped up in our own selves we’d be.

Still, Jesus identified with us as humans, and He calls us His family, His sisters.

How does that make you feel? Does it change your outlook today? Maybe we should meditate on it, because it will take some time to sink in.

Jesus is not ashamed to call you sister. He calls us holy, even though we are still being made holy.

Hebrews 2 goes on to quote Jesus in three instances. Jesus declares God to his brothers and sisters and they praise Him together, He calls believers the “children God has given Him”, and He says, “I will put my trust in the Lord.” (v. 13)

Jesus gave us a beautiful example of dependence on God–which is the way each of us who are God’s children are meant to live.

When I read through the gospels, I’m always struck by how often Jesus goes off on his own, to a quiet place, even in the middle of His important ministry years, in order to hear from God. He shows us what it looks like to trust in the Lord.

I haven’t mastered this kind of dependence on God, but I press on. I look to Him. I get alone with Him. I wait for Him to give me direction.

May our days be marked by trust, sisters of Jesus.

I will wait for the Lord…I will put my trust in Him. Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me… Isaiah 8:17-18

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