THE PERFECT FAMILY

If you are of a certain age, you will remember Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best.  Donna Reed.  My Three Sons.  The Danny Thomas Show.  The Adams Family.  And the all-time favorite, The Andy Griffith Show.

Every family wanted to be like these perfect families. Mothers wore dresses and pearls.  Fathers came home from work, put on their sweater, lit their pipe and waited for dinner.  The children said “yes mam” and “no mam.”  They never got into serious trouble.  And they all sat down at the supper table as the closing song began to play.

Yes, everyone wanted a mother that looked like Donna Reed.  Everyone wanted a father that took them fishing.  And no one wanted Eddie Haskell for a brother.

In other words, we thought families should be like those on TV.  We wanted A Perfect Family.

News flash: It was television!  Those families did not exist.  Not back then and not now.  No matter how gushy and over the top the Christmas letter, no family is perfect.  Every family - important word is EVERY - every family is a mix of the good, the bad and the “this too shall pass.”

No mother wears dresses and pearls 24/7.  They wear jeans and sweat pants and sometimes do not have the energy to change out of pajamas.

No dad comes home, puts on his sweater and waits for a meal to magically appear.  They come home tired and dirty and sometimes they are just plain grumpy.

No kid remembers to always be polite. They get mouthy and throw tantrums and sometimes you wish they belonged to someone else.

Families stay together.  Families break apart.  Families ….

God’s family is definitely not The Perfect Family.  Definitely not ! !

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.  Genesis 6:9

(David wrote) “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest.  Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”  2 Samuel 11:15

Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin.  2 Kings 17:21

(Esther to Mordecai) When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law.  And if I perish, I perish.”  Esther 4: part of 16

(Peter) began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”  Mark 14:71

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go!  This man (Saul/Paul) is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”

God’s family is made up of righteous people, murderers, those that have turned away, those that are willing to die, those that deny knowing Jesus, and those that are turned from sin to saved.

A Perfect Family?  Not years ago.  Not today. 

BUT SOMEDAY --- Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” ….. “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  Revelation 21 parts of 1, 7