Corona Devo 3173

 


The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah...  ~Zephaniah 1:1
 
Do we have any rock-solid relatives or relations in faith?

Zephaniah did.  
(Did we catch it?)  He was the great-grandson of Hezekiah, and if we do the hereditary-math, then we can compute that:

Zephaniah was the son of Cushi.

Cushi was the son of Gedaliah.

Gedaliah was the son of Amariah.

And Amariah was the son of Hezekiah.

And so that makes Zephaniah the great-grandson of Hezekiah.  And--what does that mean for Zephaniah (to be the great-grandson of Hezekiah)?

Alot, actually--because Hezekiah had some hefty spiritual credentials.  King Hezekiah lived a life in faith and service to the Lord.  And that means that (if Zephaniah chose to follow in his great-grandaddy's faith footsteps), then he was building on (at least some) strong generational roots in the family of faith.   Of course, Zephaniah would have to choose to live for the Lord, like his great-grandfather did.   

And Zephaniah did choose to seek the Lord and share His truth with others, just as his great-grandfather did.

Trace the line (of Zephaniah) back once more: ...Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah...  ~Zephaniah 1:1

Did Zephaniah's heart for our Heavenly Father get passed down in his DNA and generational genes?  Possibly, because Hezekiah was rock-solid in his faith.

Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.  (6) He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. (7) And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. (8) From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.  ~2 Kings 18:5-8

Zephaniah had Hezekiah in his faith family tree, and what a trunk of that tree Hezekiah was.  Do we have any rock-solid relatives or relations in faith?

It's a great question to ask, to think-on, to ruminate (chew) on, to review, and to be thankful-for as we review our years and those who (related by blood or Christ's blood) have invested and impacted us. 

Thank you, to those in our blood-lines and also in our faith-family lines who have helped to grow-us-up in our faith and to mature us in our walk.  Perhaps, like Zephaniah we can trace the faith back a few generations.  

Or perhaps not.  
If the question of faith-filled great-grandfathers (or grandmothers) doesn't have an answer in our family tree...then let's rearrange the question.

The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah...  ~Zephaniah 1:1

Zephaniah had bloodlines to Hezekiah, but the word of the Lord (still) came to Zephaniah...and Zephnaiah shared it...preached it...warned others of it and encouraged others by it.

Let's rearrange the question: Instead of "Do we have any rock-solid relatives or relations in faith?", how about if we ask ourselves: "Are we being a rock-solid relative or relation in faith to anyone?  Or could we be today?

The answer is Yes.  The answer is Yes, we can be a rock-solid relative or relation in faith to someone today, even if we were not yesterday.  
The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1:1), and the word of the Lord has come to us too.  

There may be someone in our family that we can share with about the truth and hope of Jesus.  Possibly even a great-grandson.  We never know what God will do with our connections for Him.  But our faith-parenting need not be confined to our direct bloodlines.  The Lord places people (of all ages and generations) in our paths for His reasons.  

Let's open our eyes and hearts today to the possible connections that God had laid for us, and let's make a new branch on the family tree of Christ.  

What if someone's faith or growth or introduction to the Lord could have traces/connection/faith-family heritage to us?  

The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah...  ~Zephaniah 1:1

And what if our influence and impact on the lives of others was Hezekiah-esque?  

Trust in the Lord today.  (Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel)

Hold fast to the Lord and do not stop following him today.  (He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him...)

Keep the commands the Lord has given today.  (...he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.)

~~~

Are we being a rock-solid relative or relation in faith to anyone?  Or could we be today?

Blessings,

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