Tales from the Family Tree

There was a popular book and mini-series many years ago titled, "Roots." This story was viewed by millions of households. The sweeping saga spanned generations and followed a family from its 'roots' in Africa to North America. The story followed the struggles, pain, injustices and also their triumphs and joys and victories.  Roots is a bold tale of love and hate, good and evil which held its audience mesmerized from start to finish.

Our roots are important, our history - family history - is handed down over and over again.  We all love to hear about great-grandfather's journey from his early days until this day when we are seated at his feet. Who doesn't want to learn about the early days or compare our parent's first date with ours? History matters, our roots are important.

Never forget where you came from, where you had your start.  That story is part of who you are, of whose you are. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

How many of us remember our roots, our lives before Jesus set his seal of ownership on us?  We should never forget where we came from, what our life was like before and after Jesus entered our lives.

Were we to remember this, our mission would naturally rise out of those memories. We would want to share our story and encourage others to embrace the new way of life. We would create our own mini-series and tell and re-tell the story of our roots.

2 Corinthians 1:12-22