I Chron 1-2 Names less than THE NAME, but still names.

April 30th, I Chronicles 1-2

       If you like lists of old school names this passage is the one for you. I feel the reference to Nimrod in our modern day is a disservice to the person and the name. Not many names in this text get an explanation, but after the listing of his name it says he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.
       Why do people say... "don't be such a Nimrod." Actually being a Nimrod would be a really good thing. So I'm going to encourage just that.
       I started counting names. I got about halfway through chapter one and I was up to 110. I decided maybe my time was better spent doing something else. There are a few things I take note of in all of this. We are generally happy if we can speak about our great grandparents. The people in the Bible track it back for thousands of years. No one knew they were keeping track of the family line of Jesus, but in the end they did.
       In community based thinking our past and who we come from matters. It's not just about finding out who our famous ancestors were. That's just a popularity contest, more a matter of stroking my ego rather than an appreciation for the man or woman in my family line who honored the Lord with their life and for whom I feel a sense of honor and pride by their dedication to God. Not pride like a fools pride, but proud that another choice could have been made and wasn't.
       It is an overwhelming thing for me to ponder the billions of people who have lived before me. Each life has a story. A heart for God or a heart for self. Trials and joys, marriage and children, death and loss, jealousy and honor, dead too soon or long full life, country or rock and roll!! There are so many things that set us apart, make us different. And yet at the same time there is something that makes us common through the ages.
       What's the point of life, why do I have this hankering to worship, struggles for power, ego needs, and most importantly a need to surrender to an Almighty, Everlasting, Loving God. Lives so similar, so different...mostly similar!
       I hope you find yourself able to identify with the lives of people in the Bible.  More importantly that you can identify with the God revealed there as well.