To us, the names and families written in 1 Chronicles 4 and 5 don’t mean much. We don’t know all their stories, we can hardly pronounce their names, and to us they are just names. What if instead of those names you put your families’ names in there? Today I challenge you to put yourselves in their shoes…
Think about the names of those who came before you in your family. Maybe you start with your parents and then start going down the line, to their parents, and their parents, and even their parents. I’m guessing the farther you go, the less you know about that person, but think about the ones you do know. They came from and were raised by the ones you don’t know. My grandma has a sassy and selfless personality, and I can guess that all of that comes from her mom or grandmother. We may not know who they are or what they did, but we see their legacies lived out through the ones we do know. That same sassy personality was passed down from generation to generation and eventually got to me. I see who they are through my grandma and mom and now through me.
One day your great-granddaughter will be making her own family tree, and your name will be on there. She may not know what you looked like, what success you had, or what you liked to do, but she’ll know your grandkid, her mom. She’ll probably know her grandma too, your kid. What legacy are you leaving on them that will impact the legacy of the generations you won’t get to meet? What part of you will be passed down to create part of them?
The song “The Blessing” by Kari Jobe comes to mind, it has a verse that says…
“May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children.”
My prayer for my children, and their children, and the thousand generations to come is that they know and love God and that his favor is upon them. This starts with me. Am I loving my family in a way that shows the love of God? I want to leave a legacy that a thousand generations down the line will look at my name and know that I loved God and loved others because they saw that in their mom or grandma or great grandma. I want to pass down love.
The names written in 1 Chronicles 4 and 5 may not mean a ton to us, but they are names of people who came before us and tried to live a life for God. God has used the generations before us to impact our lives and the generations to come. Because of what they did and who they were, our world and humankind have been changed. You have the opportunity to pass down a legacy of love and faith in God. What legacy are you leaving?
Questions for reflection:
- What legacy did your great-grandparent leave?
- What legacy do you want to leave for your family?
- How are you going to start to live out that legacy?