The Genealogy of JesusSample

In my freshman year of college, I began using my middle name as my first name. No one from my high school in South Florida planned to attend Baylor University, so it seemed a natural fresh start. Except, it wasn’t. I couldn’t pull it off. I didn’t recognize or answer to my middle name. It didn’t feel like me.

You may be familiar with Abraham. Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had father Abraham… But, before those sons, Abraham was known as Abram. He lived in Ur with his father, Terah, and brother Lot. Abraham may be known as the Father of Israel, but Joshua 24:2 tells us that before God called him, he practiced idol worship. Later described as a “friend of God”, Abraham is proof that God’s presence, call, and equipping in our life is what qualifies us for ministry—not who we are apart from God. Abram, apart from God, was a pagan idolater married to a barren wife – Sarai. Yet, God called and qualified him to father a nation and be part of the sacred lineage of Christ.

We can praise God because who HE is, always changes who we are.

1. We read in Genesis 12 that God called Abram away from Haran. Where did God send Abram, and why might this be significant?

Prayer: Lord, I praise you today for who you are and how you equip me to serve you.