When Life Gives You Lemons . . . Remember Your Origins

Over the next several weeks I will be taking the opportunity to post short blogs based on a book I'm writing.  The very title of my blog is taken from a post: When Life Gives You Lemons . . . Dig More Wells.  The original post was written a number of years ago for a previous blog but I decide to re-post it a few months ago.  I invite you to read that post as well, but for now, let's start at the beginning.

From Ancestry to MyHeritage to Geni, the search for one’s genealogy has become a billion dollar industry.  Yes, that’s BILLION.  While our dot com society has greatly increased access to such information, the desire to understand our origins is not unique to this modern era.  Genealogies were once utilized only by royalty or elite ruling classes.  Now the everyday man can gain access to tens of thousands of records.  What served as a method for establishing pedigree has transformed into a means of determining personal identity.  But, how much of who we really are is dependent upon our physical ancestors?

The inspired writers of God's word catalog several family trees.  And, the gospel writers Matthew and Luke establish Christ’s royal bloodline through genealogical means.  Most of us have heard the phrase “from good stock”.  It’s an indication that a person comes from a socially acceptable family tree.  If, however, we pause a moment and consider Christ’s family tree, it’s chock full of all kinds of undesirable elements: liars, thieves, adulterers, prostitutes, etc.  From Tamar and Judah to Rahab to David and Bathsheba, God takes the broken, the sinners, the downcast; He accomplishes His will through the most unlikely individuals.  Christ didn’t come from “good stock”.  He was a carpenters’ son from an insignificant town called Nazareth.  Born in a stable and laid in a manager, He didn’t enter this world through pomp and circumstance.  There was no silver spoon in his mouth.  The prophet Isaiah tells us that Christ was not beautiful to behold and that He was despised and rejected.  The King of kings had no place to rest His head and was crowned only with thorns.  

Satan works against us day by day seeking to separate us from God.  But, Paul writes in Romans, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (8:28).  Not that all things are good, but that God can take our pains, our sufferings, our lemons and accomplish His will in our lives.  When we consider this trend in genealogical research, we must remember that the only identity that matters is the one that comes from being a child of God.  Our origins are not tied up in fleshly bloodlines, but in the Spirit of our Almighty creator.