A Family Resemblance
By Shauna Leis
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
1 John 3:7-10
If you have ever seen a picture of our children, there is little doubt that they belong to us. Our son looks just like his father, and our daughter looks just like me. It is really funny as we have a picture of Grace and me in side by side frames at the age of 2. Our son noticed them when we first put them out and asked why the one picture of our little girl looked so strange. I had to tell him that the picture he was looking at was actually a picture of me at the same age as Grace, and the reason that it looked so funny was because it was over 30 years old!! And in our family, it goes even further back as I looked just like my father when I was growing up. Total strangers who knew my father but not me would comment, “You just have to be Dan’s daughter.”
What is even more interesting is to see how our personalities pass through genealogies, too. Not only do our children look just like us, but they also closely follow our actions, both good and bad. I see my curiosity in Grace and my compassion for people in Nathan. However, I also see my temper in Grace and my impatience in Nathan. When you spend a lot of time with other people, you tend to pick up their habits and traits.
What I wonder though is, what do people see when they look at my spirit? Do they see evidence of a genealogy that comes through following Christ? Do they see the spiritual genealogy that my family has passed down through me? I am so incredibly fortunate to have been raised in a very strong Christian home since my birth, as did my parents, and probably their parents before them. We knew about God and His Son Jesus from the time that we exited the womb and probably even a bit before we exited the womb as my mom and dad truly love the Lord.
Recently I finished reading a wonderful Christian fiction book called The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen, published by BethanyHouse. The premise of the entire book was on spiritual warfare and whether we truly understand all that is happening around us that we cannot see with our physical eyes. The central character found herself in a race against the evil forces of this world because she was attempting to trace her spiritual roots…Not her physical family roots mind you, but her spiritual roots. She needed to find out how it all began to understand the events surrounding her fight with the enemy.
The people of Israel should have been able to trace their spiritual roots back to Abraham. Their actions should have spoken highly about in whom and what they believed. Remember that genealogy was very important to the people of Israel. However, look at what Jesus had to say to many of them in John 8:31-42. “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendents and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.’
‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered. ‘If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.’ ‘We are not illegitimate children,’ they protested. ‘The only Father we have is God himself.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.’”
Jesus reminded the Israelites that even though they had physically descended from the line of Abraham, they were not acting as if they were his spiritual descendents. They were plotting to kill Jesus because they did not understand His teachings. Jesus told them that Abraham would not have acted in this manner. The same philosophy applies to us today. If we are truly spiritual sons and daughters of Jesus and are following after Him, then our actions must speak to our spiritual ancestry. How can this be accomplished? Only Jesus’ Spirit living in us and taking control over our lives will give an outward indication of to whom we really belong.
Maybe we should all take some time today to re-evaluate our spiritual ancestry and check our actions once again. Also, think about saying a very special “thank you” to the ones in your past who have had significant impact in your spiritual walk. And, we need to make sure we are positively impacting someone else’s spiritual walk along our way, too. God bless!
Pray with me: Abba, Father. Oh, how we love to proclaim You as our ultimate Father in heaven. We long to be able to trace our spiritual roots all the way back to You and Your Son Jesus. We want nothing more than to be called sons and daughters of God. Lord, today we thank You for all of the dear people whom You have placed along our way who have guided us along our spiritual walks. Most of all, we thank You that Jesus loved us enough that He died for us on that cruel cross. We love You so very much, God, and pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen