Who Is Your Family?
All Israel was listed in the genealogical record in The Book of the Kings of Israel.
-- 1 Chronicles 9:1a
Tell me about your family. Do you have many siblings, several aunts and uncles and loads of cousins? Are you an only child? Maybe you never knew your biological family but you’ve adopted another family as your own.
Whatever your story, you have another family story to tell. You have a spiritual family, complete with a family tree and lots of history. I’ve always dreaded reading all the names listed in the Bible. I can’t pronounce many of them and, besides, why do I really need to know all that? Because all those names represent people who came before me. They were important to God. They’re part of our family. Yeah. That’s right. Our family. Because even though my racial heritage isn’t Jewish, my spiritual heritage began with Adam, went right through David, and continues with Jesus. I am adopted and cherished and loved. I am part of the family of God.
So are you. God loves each and every one of us and wants everyone to accept Jesus as Savior. He prepared a plan of salvation for all of us because He knew us well. God understood we’d never be able to reach heaven on our own.
Our churches today are so much like families. Or they should be. They should be places where we gather to worship God. They should be for learning and singing praise. They should be places where we gather to eat and laugh, pray and console. We come together as the family of God, holding on to one another in good times and bad.
Reading all those names takes on a different meaning when I see them as my ancestors. Just as I value my biological family tree, I value my spiritual family tree. It is here, recorded in 1 Chronicles, that we learn about Jabez and how he boldly asked God for His blessing. And He got it!
Can you imagine sitting around the Sunday dinner table and telling family stories? My ancestor Noah built an ark. My ancestor Abraham was righteous. My ancestor Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law and God blessed her in a great way. And on and on. The stories have new life in a heart that understands their importance. So go ahead and celebrate your family heritage. Just remember to include your spiritual family in the stories that you tell.
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