Do You Really Make A Difference?
Matthew 1:1-17
1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
How many of us have read the beginning of Matthew? This gives us the genealogy from Abraham to Jesus. This carries us through 42 generations. There is a lot of history in this genealogical tree. All of that history has a bearing on how people became who they are. If just one of those relationships had not turned out the way it did just think of how it would have changed history. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me who is in control. He has plans for us. We have been influenced because of the people they were.
Who do you think you are? One of the television shows I like to watch is called “Who Do You Think You Are?” The television show takes famous people and they begin searching their family history. It seems like every show they have has surprising and interesting facts in their history. Each of these people find out how they have been influenced because of who was in their past and also because of some of the activities their past family members were involved with. Valerie Bertinelli found out she was direct descendant of King Edward. Those on the show are amazed to be able to put pieces of their family in perspective in order to understand their lives better. There is a whole history of influence of who they became.
The same holds true for us today. We are all God’s children. All of us can trace our being back to God since God is the one who created us. We have a great history, one in which we should want to share with others. As Christians, we have been formed by other Christians. Some people are also influenced by non-Christians. If we search out our Christian history we can find some amazing people that have affected our lives. Leave one of those people out of the loop and our history changes.
If we can fast forward another 100 or 200 years and somebody searches their personal family history or they search the influence others had on their lives, what will history say when our name is reached? Yes, we make a difference You and I play a very important part in the future of others. The influence we have on others can be Christ-like but it can also be the opposite. As Christian leaders I hope we are living Christ-like lives. Christ is counting on you. God has plans for us. We just need to listen and obey.
Grace and Peace,
Jimmy
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