The Relevant Disciple

Last night at The Revolution we looked at a great passage of scripture that is often over looked by people as they read their bibles.  We looked at Matthew 1:1-17, which gives the names of the men and women who are in the lineage of Jesus the Messiah.  It is an interesting group of names as you find people such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Tamar, Ruth, David, Solomon, Amon, Uzziah, and many more.  Each of these names tell a story about them and their history.  Not all of the stories are beautiful or pretty, matter of fact some of them are pretty nasty. 

One story in particular that starts great then moves in the wrong direction and ends with redemption is the story of King David.  If you have any biblical background at all, you know the story of David killing the gaint.  Being a young boy, he does something that the grown and trained men in Sauls army can not do and that is kill this huge gaint.  David from that point forwards march to the throne.  The story of David takes a downward turn the day he saw Bathsheba taking a bath.  David lusted after Bathsheba and committed adultery with her causing her to become pergant. The story even takes a turn for the worse, not only did David committ adultry but now he is going to try and cover it up.  David calls for Bathshebas husband to return from the battle field.  David wants Uriah the Hittite to be with his wife (have sex), so that the sin of adultery maybe covered up.  The thing is that Uriah refuses to lay(have sex) with Bathsheba, so David sends him back to the front lines and David has Uriah killed.  Problem solved right? Nope even a bigger mess! Well to move on lets just say David sin was uncovered and David repented for his sins. His sin brought about great remorse in his life but the redemption that followed was even great than he could have ever imagined.

Some of the names that are found in Matthew 1:1-17, do not tell a story of redemption. Some of the names tell of a story of wickedness, sinfulness, and destruction. The bible is full of names and many of these names point us to eternities that are doomed with destruction and hell. 

 The thing is that your name tells a story about who you are.  When your name is mentioned, thoughts come to peoples minds. What are those thoughts? When you name is mentioned are these words associated with it...liar, cheater, easy, backstabber, gossip, player, and many more negative things.  Or are words such as... follower of God, compassionate, gospel preacher, witness, christian, and many more characterstics of a godly person.  You name tells a story and the reality is that many people who claim to follow Christ have bad names and bad stories.  There history is full of sin and their seems to have been no redemption.  You see when redemption comes their is a change of lifestyle.  You no longer want to live in sin, you desire becomes that of Christ.  Yes, you still sin but that sin brings about remorse and remorse brings about repentance. Think about you name and what it stands for, do people see you as a Christ follower or are you just another person of the world.  The evidence is there and people see who you are by your name.

Take time to think through your life and seek God. Your history does not define you.  God can and does change us at the time of regeneration.  Has your heart been regenerated?