Likes

 Mark 3:20-35

I wonder what Jesus would make of likes. We like to be liked, it can become an obsession to be liked. Facebook has really made us want the most likes on a post. Some people crave the attention. Others just want to know they are not alone in the world.

We crave the attention of a like and yet most of the time we see Jesus who doesn't care about the likes. What is important, who is important are the ones sitting right in front of him. Those are his family, those are the ones who need the care and attention, they are the ones who search him out.

We watched a video in health about the likes this year. How driven kids are by the likes. How it shapes their identity and what they believe and how damaging it is to it. This is not reality and Jesus tells us this today. What is the reality are those who gather near. Whom we actually have conversations with and who we give our time to.

Brenè Brown says the rising leading cause of death for people is loneliness. We have somehow forgotten the importance of sharing and talking with one another. Even of hearing one another and dropping our own positions on things because the important thing is relationship. We were made to relate to one another. 

Relationship is important and helps us to develop in health with God and one another. When we broaden our focus of who is our family this helps us to see the rich tapestry others have woven into our lives. How they have touched us, brought healing, words of encouragement and broken the bread of life with us. These touch points highlight what is a gift around us. 

Hopefully we may notice these gifts in front of us instead of craving the likes of those who know nothing of us. May we find in one another the relationships which feed our soul and heal us.