St Patrick’s Day is coming up. It is a celebration of heritage of sorts. If you’re Irish like me it’s a time you remember celebrating this Holiday with an annual meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. There was a certain pride in saying on that day that I’m Irish! I’m not sure I ever really knew why. There is something about knowing where you come from.

This past week also marked the start of Lent. This is a time of 40 days that many churches set aside to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It’s 40 days leading up to the Passover. Most people use this as a time of reflection, fasting, and praying to prepare them for Good Friday and Easter. This has all made me think about Jesus because heritage is important to him too. Really, how? You may ask. Stick with me here…
Have you ever read the book of Matthew? The beginning of it is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. A lot of people probably pass right by it. Who wants to read about a bunch of names? But those names are not only relatives of our Lord and Savior, but those names are people with a story. These were people whose lives were forever changed by God. Lives included in the lineage of Jesus and those God thought important enough to include in the story of His son.

If you look at the names in the genealogy, some of them are ones you’d think God would want to hide. However, God mentions them for a reason. I think it’s to remind us that Jesus came from and FOR people exactly like them. Broken sinners in need of grace; just like you and me.

So, as we come up to Easter, let this be a time to reflect on Jesus as He beckons us to come to him. He didn’t run from our dirt and shame then and He won’t now. For it is while we were STILL sinners that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). No matter who you are or where you came from, God wants you to know you belong in the Family of God. Let’s celebrate that now and give thanks that He is a God who isn't afraid to call us his own!

Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! (1 John 3:1)
John 1:12-13New Living Translation (NLT)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.