An Interesting Family Holiday
An Interesting Family Holiday by Kevin Johnson
I’ve often said there is always a black sheep in the family and if you don’t know who that black sheep is then there is a good chance it might be you. During Thanksgiving week, I was recently watching a national news channel as they were interviewing a counselor on the show. She was sharing how many people need professional counseling after going and spending the holidays with family. The point is nobody’s family is perfect anymore. But then again, most every family tree has a few crooked sticks.
Let me do my best to describe some people’s family make-up during the Christmas holiday. One man tried to hide his wife’s identity when traveling out of town. Another guy was a con artist at best. His name even called him out one. There was this one family member who literally tried to sell his brother from what we know. Then his own family just fell apart. His son got married but ended up dying because of his evil heart. The widowed daughter in law later tricked her father-in-law and they had a child together. Try explaining that one at the Christmas dinner table. This entire family tree was filled with cousins that had done terrible things, been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, stepped out of line, and for some just outright been wrong. When you gathered for this family holiday it was almost like you would have been watching your back the entire time.
You probably realize by now the family I am speaking of is found in the first chapter of Matthew and the first chapter of Luke. It is the family tree of Jesus himself. As perfect as Jesus was his family was just the opposite. They represented each one of us in some form or fashion. The weak, the weary, the mistreated and the manipulators; the liars, the lazy, the selfish sinner, the stumbler and the fumblers. The fact is we all would fit right in. Why would God send his Son into this world and line him up with such a cast of characters?
There are always two sides to a family tree. The one before the birth of Jesus and the one following the miracle in a manger. When we examine the family tree leading up to Bethlehem, we see disarray and think how can they be allowed in this family? Then when we honestly look at our own lives we wonder, how are we allowed in this family as well? There is not one soul that deserves to be in this family photo. But we do not get into the family of God by being born into it, we only get into the family of God be being born again!
We are guilty of remembering the past failures but not the Prince of Peace’s forgiveness. We seem to think of people at their worst and fail to recognize that God did a work in their lives. Sometimes we fail to see the Grace of God in our own life because we beat ourselves up over our own transgressions. The family tree mentioned in Matthew and Luke is not a random passage. It is written as a stark reminder that the family tree of Jesus was filled with sinners. If God can forgive them then surely God can forgive us as well.
So smile, the family photo is about to be taken. Even with the crazy cousins and the rebellious relatives. We’ve all had our moments, but through the sacrifice of this baby born in Bethlehem, we as believers, all belong in the Family Tree.
I’ve often said there is always a black sheep in the family and if you don’t know who that black sheep is then there is a good chance it might be you. During Thanksgiving week, I was recently watching a national news channel as they were interviewing a counselor on the show. She was sharing how many people need professional counseling after going and spending the holidays with family. The point is nobody’s family is perfect anymore. But then again, most every family tree has a few crooked sticks.
Let me do my best to describe some people’s family make-up during the Christmas holiday. One man tried to hide his wife’s identity when traveling out of town. Another guy was a con artist at best. His name even called him out one. There was this one family member who literally tried to sell his brother from what we know. Then his own family just fell apart. His son got married but ended up dying because of his evil heart. The widowed daughter in law later tricked her father-in-law and they had a child together. Try explaining that one at the Christmas dinner table. This entire family tree was filled with cousins that had done terrible things, been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, stepped out of line, and for some just outright been wrong. When you gathered for this family holiday it was almost like you would have been watching your back the entire time.
You probably realize by now the family I am speaking of is found in the first chapter of Matthew and the first chapter of Luke. It is the family tree of Jesus himself. As perfect as Jesus was his family was just the opposite. They represented each one of us in some form or fashion. The weak, the weary, the mistreated and the manipulators; the liars, the lazy, the selfish sinner, the stumbler and the fumblers. The fact is we all would fit right in. Why would God send his Son into this world and line him up with such a cast of characters?
There are always two sides to a family tree. The one before the birth of Jesus and the one following the miracle in a manger. When we examine the family tree leading up to Bethlehem, we see disarray and think how can they be allowed in this family? Then when we honestly look at our own lives we wonder, how are we allowed in this family as well? There is not one soul that deserves to be in this family photo. But we do not get into the family of God by being born into it, we only get into the family of God be being born again!
We are guilty of remembering the past failures but not the Prince of Peace’s forgiveness. We seem to think of people at their worst and fail to recognize that God did a work in their lives. Sometimes we fail to see the Grace of God in our own life because we beat ourselves up over our own transgressions. The family tree mentioned in Matthew and Luke is not a random passage. It is written as a stark reminder that the family tree of Jesus was filled with sinners. If God can forgive them then surely God can forgive us as well.
So smile, the family photo is about to be taken. Even with the crazy cousins and the rebellious relatives. We’ve all had our moments, but through the sacrifice of this baby born in Bethlehem, we as believers, all belong in the Family Tree.
Recent
Archive
2024
March
June
October
December
Categories
no categories
No Comments