The audio for this devotional is not available for now, but you can have your device read it to you.
Reading options
Verse:And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in hisown likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eighthundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirtyyears: and he died. —Genesis 5:3–5, KJV
I love genealogy. I love reading and hearing about my family’s history. I love finding old photographs of my grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents. I love seeing pictures of them in their day-to-day settings. I love figuring out who belongs to whom and how I’m related to each person. Years ago, I found a book, copyrighted 1809, in my grandparents’ attic. The back page of the book had been used to list the owner’s parents, siblings, and birthdays. These people were my ancestors who lived in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. One even had the same birthday as me! I also want my children, grandchildren, and other descendants to know who their ancestors were. I want them to come to the same realization that I have: that without any one of those individuals in their family tree, they wouldn’t be here. If the owner of that book hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t exist. And without me, there wouldn’t be at least four others—my son, my two daughters, and my granddaughter.
I also love reading genealogies in the Bible—you know, all the “begats.” I enjoy reading about the day-to-day activities in the lives of Bible characters—the ones that God told writers to include in His Book. Years ago, when my son was being homeschooled, we sat together and worked out a timeline of whose son was who and how long each one had lived. I had a great time (I’m not sure if my son did). I’m fascinated with the idea that my family tree and yours, whoever you are, all meet back at the Flood and then again back at Adam and Eve. No matter who you are, no matter what nationality or ethnicity you are, I am related to you. And not just through Noah and Adam and Eve, but through the blood of Jesus. Without Him, none of us would have the hope of existing beyond this life.
I’m really looking forward to meeting all of my relatives in heaven—all of my ancestors and you. It will be great fun figuring out exactly how we’re related. And who knows? We just might even have the same birthday!