WHO AM I?

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.              Galatians 3:26,27 NIV

Ads for checking out genealogical sites. Ads for checking out who you are and where you came from. Yeah, my mind is so weird that I’m pretty sure there must have been some really interesting people back there somewhere in my ancestry.

I know a little. My folks are from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. At least that’s what I’ve been told; I wasn’t there yet. My Irish grandmother’s greatest source of pride was that she was born on Saint Patrick’s Day. Don’t know what I’d find way back to be proud of—or ashamed of. Was Florence Nightingale my great, great, great, great grandma? Was Abraham Lincoln my great, great, great, great granddaddy? Or maybe John Wilkes Booth or Benedict Arnold? I don’t look like the pictures of any of them.

Doesn’t matter. I don’t take other folks failures—or successes— personally, no matter who they are. I’m responsible for my own reputation, and nobody else’s.  

But I’m curious, and I’d like to check it out someday. Maybe. I hear there’s a downside to those sites. Privacy, discrimination from insurance companies if there’s a history of health problems, the chance of a devastating blow to your self-esteem, etc.

I’m way more interested in my spiritual ancestry. Who told the ones who told me? Who told those people, and who those, and who those? Does my lineage trace back through one of the great revivals? One of Billy Graham’s crusades? The 1904 revival in Wales? The First Great Awakening with Jonathan Edwards in 1727? One of Paul’s missionary journeys? Pentecost in AD 30?

Were my spiritual ancestors giants of the faith, or simple, saintly prayer warriors? Were their births easy or difficult? What were their struggles? What were their successes?

One day I’ll find out and get to thank them.

Avi, thank You for all those souls who were faithful to share Your truth with those who followed them. No matter the path, my lineage traces straight back to You. Now, that’s something to be proud of!

In Your Holy Name, Amen