Leftovers

May 15, 2023

Last week I was reading in the first few chapters of I Chronicles. This is one of those parts that make my eyes glaze over. There are endless lists of “so-and-so the father of so-and-so, the father of so-and-so.” The names are strange—-not a Leroy or Leonard or Oscar in the bunch. What am I to get out of these names?

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”. II Timothy 3:16

No, these aren’t names listed in my family tree. (You’re not the only royalty around here. I, too, can trace my family line back to 1066 and William the Conqueror!). Maybe the point is that no one can expect to have their name famous for many decades after they die. The important and lasting virtue of our lives is what we pass on to the next generation. All those folks who have known us should somehow be closer to God after we’ve gone.

The opposite is, sad to say, also true. A life is wasted that hinders people from coming to know Jesus and God’s offer of salvation through belief in him. Jesus said in Mark 9:42, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”

One day all those books I wrote will be available at yard sales for a dime. The house we cherish might easily sit vacant and crumbling. My car, that has never been to a car wash but has been faithfully hand-washed since I owned it, one day it will sit rusting in a junk yard. What will last is the knowledge of God that I passed on somehow with my life.

“The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Isaiah 40:8