Read through the Gospels in a Year: Luke 3:21-38
Read the New Testament in a Year: Ephesians 5:1-21
Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph. — Luke 3:23
I love movies, but ultimately any great movie is a great story. We all value stories. They are the primary vehicles for explaining who we are. All good stories also include the names of the people involved.
Luke describes Jesus through his human family tree. Luke provides this list of names to show that these people were grafted into the family of God’s ongoing redemptive kingdom work. If we skip over the list of names connected with Jesus, we miss an important part of the story Luke is telling. Jesus is the first name we must take into our lives for our stories to make sense. You and I are in God’s family because of Jesus.
Our stories, anchored in Jesus’ story, provide hope for us. Author Donald McCullough in The Consolations of Imperfection shows how we can live into the story of God’s grace in Jesus. He writes, “When my achievements had fallen like sand through open fingers, and when I had no hope for grasping any in the future, I found myself being upheld by grace . . . the eternal love I had believed was freely offered through Jesus Christ was indeed freely offered, with no strings attached, apart from anything I had done or not done. That meant I had value, I had worth . . . everything I needed for rebuilding my life on a far more trustworthy foundation.”
What makes your story valuable?
Recent Comments