Just Like Us

Posted on Jan 02, 2017 Topic : Weekly Devotionals

Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli (Luke 3:23).

Jesus was just like us—born with a past and a history—and we have been made to become like him. God wants you to be a masterpiece of his grace by living for his glory and expressing his goodness to others.

- 52 Weeks with Jesus

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Both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels give us the family tree of Jesus. The former traces Jesus’s earthly lineagethrough Joseph (legally, though not biologically, his father). Luke gives us Jesus’s lineage through Mary.

Like Jesus, each of us has a family tree. We all have a host of ancestors—some of whom were likely scoundrels, others who were godly believers used by God in their day. If we had the chance, which of us would not enjoy a look back through time to witness the odd assortment of men and women whose DNA we share? No matter what surprises we might find there, God has had his hand in the network of branches and offshoots that is our family tree every step of the way. He’s even overseen every disastrous wrong turn our ancestors made and then worked it for his ultimate purposes, including the bringing about of you for this day and this age.

You have a divine purpose rooted in God’s plan. You were born in such a way as to fit uniquely and by design into a great purpose shared by no other human being—past, present, or future.

God’s plans always involve people. Ordinary people through whom he can showcase his grace and mercy. Though God has used some of your ancestors in the past—just as he used Abraham, Isaac, David, and others in Jesus’s past—he is no longer able to work through them. For now, at this time in history, God can use only you.

It is no small thing to be used as a masterpiece of God’s grace. Never forget that.