Know Your Roots

The descendants of Adam were Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (1 Chronicles 1:1-4 NLT)

I must admit that my normal reaction to genealogies in the Bible is one of boredom.  I've often struggled over the value of listing a bunch of names that have little meaning or purpose to us.  It just seems like record-keeping and, since it's in the Bible, we are stuck with reading it.

Recently, however, I've been noticing a change in my relationship with my son.  He's a full-fledged teenager now and I fully expected him to start fighting me and ignoring my counsel.  Our experience as of late, though, has been quite different.  We find ourselves connecting on things we have in common.  He asks for my advice on things - sometimes pretty "big" things.  It seems he wants to know where his dad is coming from so he can make it a part of himself.

This got me thinking about my relationship with my dad.  While there were times I'm sure I frustrated him to no end, I wanted to learn from him, too.  I watched how he interacted with people.  I learned how to communicate with audiences of one to thousands.  I learned how to work with my hands, fixing things around the house.  I learned how to love my wife, raise my children in the instruction of the Lord, and got a strong sense of right and wrong from my dad.  He was a great influence on my life.

Genealogies are starting to look a little different to me now.  They aren't just a list of names with no purpose.  They are full of meaning.  When they speak of a father, a grandfather, or a great grandfather, they are speaking of their heritage...their roots.  These names represent people who help them identify who they are and how they have learned to live in this life.  They are the patriarchs and matriarchs the families would turn to for wisdom.  As they would go, so the family would go.

This is important for all of us.  We should want to follow the best qualities of our fathers and pass them along to our sons.  Remember, though, that there is only one Father who is our perfect example and can guide us the absolute best. "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus."  (Galatians 3:26 NLT)