Under The Oakes

Many family genealogies are only interesting to those who are part of the family. For the outsider looking in, they are often boring, as they are just names that mean nothing to you. If you can’t put a face to that name, or even to their descendants, it all becomes monotonous for many of us…. ESPECIALLY if there aren’t any facts given on the people & it is just a list of names.

That is where we find ourselves in Matthew 1:1-17. Many of us will skip right over this passage when we are reading our bibles. We want to skip over names like Jeconiah, Shealtiel & Eliakim. (How much did their parents hate them, giving them a name like that?!?!) But we need to be mindful of the fact that Matthew didn’t include the Genealogy of Jesus because he wanted to have to spell Zerubbabel…. He added this information, because God told him to! (2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us ALL scripture is inspired & from God) So why would God tell Matthew to include this family tree full of so many peculiar names?

I believe God included this list to be a reminder to us. As you read through this, I encourage you to read with a pen & circle or underline every name where you recognize the person being referred to. Then, write what you know about them, I guarantee you will know more bad than good about them. You will read of Uriah, the man David had killed, so he could make his wife Bathsheba to be his own. You will read of Manasseh, who was the most wicked King of Judah. When you write of David, will you write of him being a man after God’s own heart & a giant slayer? Or will it stick in your mind what he did with Bathsheba & the problems he had with his adult sons?

We often remember the bad, & forget the good. That seems to be part of our human nature…. But I think in doing that, we neglect to recognize the fact that God will use us, even though we are flawed. God will use us even if we don’t feel worthy of answering His call on our lives! He used Balaam, who was a seer, or false prophet for lack of a better word, so if He can use him, why can’t He use us?

I did youth ministry for many years, & I had numerous teens try to tell me that they had done something in their past so bad that God couldn’t use them. Truthfully, I chuckled at this notion… A teenager thinks their life is so upside down, that it’s beyond God? Do they even know Him?! We immediately would go to Acts & look at the life of Saul, eventually named Paul. He literally threw the first stone (or maybe held the coats of those throwing the first stone) & God used him in a MIGHTY, MIGHTY way. That is the God I serve! Let me ask you, do you know Him?

One of my favorite authors, Mark Batterson, has this quote, “Sometimes God shows up, & sometimes God shows off!” This isn’t God showing off His arrogance like an athlete showing off after scoring, but rather God showing off His power & glory! So if God can use those imperfect people in Matthew 1, He can certainly use you! Let me close with this argument. If you spent time living in the shadows of life, or living in the places no christian would dare go, maybe, just maybe God will use you to reach those same people you used to live life with. God may lead you to witness to those you used to do worldly things with. I guarantee you, you have far more influence in your home/job/sphere of life than your pastor would, because you have relationship with them!

Relationship is everything when it comes to the Gospel! So don’t be ashamed of what you were before God rescued you. Instead, use that time of your life as your megaphone to show how good God is! Pursue Him, honor Him, glorify Him, in ALL you do! Be blessed!