Devotion 6.1.15

Jeff Foxworthy made himself famous with, "You might be a redneck if...." We were treated to lines about what qualifies you as a redneck that dealt with all sorts of examples.  In a discussion once with a good friend, we were attempting to determine who had more redneck lineage.  The discussion ended in us conceding a tie.  My family tree is as redneck as his. We had an abundance of evidence that could make three albums of country music to our credit (you know what comprises country music - cheating, hurt, betrayal, love gone bad, divorce, getting dumped for another, fighting, lawlessness and maybe a crime or two... the list is endless).

Matthew uses the opening of his gospel as a detailed account on the lineage of Christ.  And to our surprise, Christ's lineage is comprised of all sorts of people, some with some less than honorable pasts.  Abraham was the father of Isaac (Matthew 1:2).  Abraham, the man who was given a covenant by God, who couldn't wait on God's time as recorded in Genesis, so he conspired with this wife Sarai to have a child with his servant Haggar.  Ishmael is born illegitimately, to fulfill the covenant God had made in Abraham's eyes because he and Sarai were old and did not trust in God. Isaac would be born to Sarai and Abraham later.  Isaac, the father of Jacob (1:2).  We remember that story as well. Esau was the oldest entitled to the birthright according to custom, but Rebekah (Isaac's wife) and Jacob conspire to trick Isaac into giving the birthright to Jacob.  Jacob, then has a family with sons, including Joseph, whose brothers jealously conspire to give the appearance of a violent death and sell Joseph into slavery.  Finally, we see "David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah..." (1:6).  Remember that story?  David got Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, pregnant, and tried to get Uriah to make love to her to believe it was his child.  When Uriah was more worried about his troops than anything else, David sends him into fierce battle to fight and hopefully die.  When he does, David brings her in.  David is called on the carpet by God through Nathan and the child born to adultery dies, but they went on to have Solomon who would become king.

Such a sordid family tree for the Christ, our Christ and savior.  Such a genealogy made of such misfits and criminals.  Our savior?  Christ?  Yes, our savior, the Christ.  We learn from this genealogy that God makes perfect from the imperfect.  God's plan is not thwarted by our plans. 

We pray we seek God's plan but we praise God for his plan of perfection coming from our imperfection.

Hope Men's Ministry