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Whether we have
ancestors who were good or bad, we can learn from them. Here’s to looking into
the past to help us discern our future—with God’s help and wisdom.
Eternal Perspectives by
Sally Bair
Ancestors
Years ago my mother
decided to search her parents’ genealogy ancestries. Without internet help such as
Ancestry.com provides, she had to do it
the hard way. She wrote letters, visited cemeteries, searched library records
and read historical accounts. It took her years. She hand-printed three huge
charts filled with her ancestors’ names.
She also shared
family stories with the three of us daughters—about her dad’s ancestors fleeing
England for the United States in the 1600s to avoid persecution for their
Christian faith. She spoke about her mother’s parents hiding slaves during the
Civil War as part of the famed Underground Railroad.
We all have
interesting heritages that tell us who we are. Through genealogy study, we
learn that we are much more than a son or daughter.
God has a family
tree, too, recorded in the Bible. It is important to His chosen people, the
Jews, as well as to us “grafted in” Christians. We can read how God blessed His
people and loved them and forgave them over and over for their sins. God multiplied
them until Egypt enslaved them. Then He sent Moses to lead them across the Red
Sea to freedom.
After they began
their forty-year trek to the Promised Land of Canaan, God told the people to
remember His commandments and teach them to future generations so they would
not forget how He delivered them from slavery.
“These words which I
command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to
your children … talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the
way, when you lie down, and when you rise up … bind them as a sign on your hand
… and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
We Christians also
need to remember our spiritual heritage. Through God’s Word we can be reminded
every day of His continual blessings. Like the Jewish people, we can teach them
to our children, talk about them and keep them in our hearts.
For those of us who
believe in Christ’s salvation, our greatest heritage is that of being His
children.
Lord, thank
You for the wonderful heritage we have as Your children. Make us ever aware of
its importance as we worship and serve You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
