From My Heart

As I sit here preparing my Sunday School lesson for this week, I am reading through the first chapter of Matthew which begins with one of those exciting genealogies we all love so much when reading through the Bible. (read slight sarcasm here) But as I read through this one this year, it occurs to me that 2 Timothy 3:16 tells me that ALL scripture is inspired by God and ALL scripture is useful. So if the genealogy is here -  it must be worth my time. The first, and most obvious, reason is to prove the lineage of Christ and His right to the throne of Israel. It traces His Messianic lineage back to David and further to Abraham both of whom the Jews recognized would be ancestors to the Messiah. As we read on, though, there are some interesting characters indeed. Jacob was a liar. Tamar (the fact that a woman is included is unheard of) who seduced her former father in law, Judah, in order to continue her deceased husband's line (Genesis 38). Rahab (another woman AND a Gentile) w

Since the New Year started, I have seen everyone  well, maybe not everyone , posting their verse for the year or their word for this year. I want to be that spiritual, really, I do. But reality reigns at my house. Truth be told, I hadn't even thought about a verse or a word for the year. I'm not sure I could remember what my verse and word were for last year, so why bother with another one? We had a lovely time ringing in the New Year with some wonderful friends and maybe the whole evening just had me waxing nostalgic. I looked at these people - some we had done life with for a long time. We have traveled together, laughed together, mourned together, and loved together. I looked at others who are more newcomers to the scene and think about what our future together will bring. It's exciting and a little scary. On our way home, it was dark and there were still a few fireworks going off in the distance.. my thoughts turned toward the year past and other circumstances