“Do you think I have come to bring peace in the Land? Not peace, I tell you, but division!” (Luke 12:51)The people of Israel were looking for the promised king to rule their country and to bring and keep peace in their land. Instead, they got a baby born into a poor, unmarried family, who wasn’t looking to make peace at all. It is still on His agenda but peace on earth wasn’t part of his first coming, that is a gift of the second.

He knew there would be people who would acknowledge Him as Messiah and others who would not. He knew this would cause family splits because those who do and those who do not cannot live together peacefully. When you truly give your heart to Jesus your life begins to change and others start to notice. It’s inevitable.

One of my boys, when he really started listening and giving his heart, said to me, “Mom, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like someone is controlling my mind. Like I couldn’t even rob a bank if I wanted to.” If he had belonged to a family or group of friends who idolized Jesse James or Bonnie & Clyde and patterned their lives to prove it, I imagine there would have been some serious issues causing irreconcilable differences. 

A believer cannot grow in the dark and a non-believer avoids the light. “For everyone who does evil things hates the light and avoids it, so that his actions won’t be exposed. But everyone who does what is true comes to the light, so that all may see that his actions are accomplished through God.” (John 3:20-21) When you follow Christ, truly making Him your number one love, you need to be prepared to let Him lead you away from those who will hinder your walk, even if it’s your mother, father, son, daughter, or best friend. You may be brought back together when you are strong enough in the Lord or you may remain estranged for not all choose the Kingdom. But you stand firm because “with God, nothing is impossible.” (Luke 1:37)