Thursday, February 9, 2012

Two Families United By Blessing

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. -- Matthew 1:17

Do you ever think about your family history? Do you know your story in relationship to all those who went before you? Were you adopted into a family or were you born of blood?

Most of us have two families. Sometimes, if we’re fortunate, those families are intertwined into one. Other times they’re separate. We have the family we acknowledge here on earth and we have the family we acquired through belief in Jesus Christ.

Some people are really into genealogy and they can tell you the names of ancestors from generations and generations ago. Sometimes I envy them. I’d love to have that kind of knowledge. Maybe someday I will. Or not. It takes a great deal of time to do that sort of thing.

I bet it’s fascinating though. Just in my own family history the little bit I know is amazing. Some of the people who were saints later in life sowed a few wild oats they’d prefer no one remember. In fact, one side of the family prided itself on secrets kept from everyone, including the following generation.

It’s easy to be embarrassed by our pasts. We don’t want to admit mistakes unless we absolutely have to. We’d prefer to forgo the humiliation and judgments from others that we’re certain would come. But maybe we’re only dreaming of something that wouldn’t happen. Most of us have secrets we’d rather not share. Most of us have things we wished we’d never done. Empathy is a good equalizer.

Our family of God gives us further evidence of what God can do with anyone. Rahab, King David’s great-great-grandmother, was a prostitute. David had a man killed because he desired the man’s wife. And that barely touches on the family tree.

What came out of all that stumbling and sin? A Savior. Jesus Christ. God’s Son. All from God’s perfect plan.

Sometimes we get upset that our families aren’t all we think they should be. And sometimes they get upset with us because we’re not who they think we should be either. But out of all of that discord can come a unity, a bond, that glues the unit together for all of eternity.

We’re blessed, those of us who are believers, to be part of God’s family. We were adopted in by the blood of Jesus Christ. And if we’re specially blessed, our earthly family has been adopted into God’s family as well.