Yesterday I found a copy of a detailed family tree that I thought was lost. It goes back nine generations! It is mostly Germans, Brits, and a single line of Frenchmen. Most common vocations? Teachers, farmers, lawyers, and business owners.
I suppose you can inherit leadership and the gift of gab. I’m sure you can inherit a talent for teaching. But can you inherit faith? At first, the answer may seem to be No. Each person must choose Christ for himself. But 2 Timothy has an interesting passage. Paul writes:
“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” 2 Timothy 1:5.
Paul believes that the faith he sees in Timothy is the same faith he saw in the young man’s mother and grandmother. I like that idea—because my kids come from a long line of faith. Many great and faithful men and women of God have gone before. Each had a crisis of belief, and chose to walk by faith and believe His word. Sure, there have been a few failures, but the majority have loved and served Jesus. Sometimes I look at my two kids and see in them the faith of their parents and grandparents.
The key in this verse may be that Paul describes Timothy’s faith as “sincere.” Is your faith sincere? Take that sincere and honest faith, the faith that comes from you being REAL, and build on that.
Pray, obey, read, and study the word. Grow in Christ. Cultivate faith, belief, and TRUST. Put aside doubt, skepticism, and mocking. Choose to love God and trust Him.
Now, how do you serve Him? It’s not about gifts. Just a few verses later Paul says if you purify yourself, God can use you.
“If anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” 2 Timothy 2:21.
So that’s all it takes—purify yourself, and God will use you as a special instrument. But I know that’s not so easy. Your ancestors in the faith did not have smart phones or even TVs, or so many other things. But don’t kid yourself—they had choices. They had temptations. And many of them purified themselves, walked with God, and raised their children in the faith. May we do the same.
May we be worthy of the ones who have gone before us.
Dear God, make us faithful. Help us love you and choose faith. Help us to purify ourselves so we can be “special instruments” for you. Teach us to drop the doubts and to choose faith. Help us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,” and worthy of the “great cloud of witnesses surrounding us” Hebrews 12:1. Give us an extra measure of the faith of our ancestors. Help us purify ourselves so we can be special instruments for you. Use us in any way you choose. We give our lives to you!
ΑΩ
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