Ancestry

Thanks to genealogy research by a couple of nieces, we have recently learned we are distant relatives of Abraham Lincoln!  Who knew?  It seems my father's 6th great-grandparents are the same people as Lincoln's 4th great-grandparents! That makes me--not his first, nor second cousin, but 8th (or was it 9th) cousin!

Nice information, but useless except to our own ego!  It reminds me of scriptures in the Bible where the Jews were proud of their relationship to another Abraham.  John the Baptist said to them in Luke 3:8, "Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

We cannot be "grandfathered" in to the kingdom of God!  The "grandfather clause" is used to mean that an old rule may continue to apply to existing situations, but the new rule will apply to future situations. The New Testament and the saving power of Jesus is the new rule!

We have heard the saying, "God does not have any grandchildren."  And it's true! He desires a personal, next-of-kin relationship with each one of us!  I have many grandchildren, from ages 16 months to 28 years.  They have all been raised, or are being raised, to know the Lord, as we raised our children.  They cannot say, "Well, my dad (or grandfather) is a preacher, so that makes me a Christian!" Nor would any of them say, or think to say, that!

My mother was a very devout Christian.  All her grandchildren loved her dearly, and several talk about her getting them to church as youngsters.  She nurtured and implanted them with the Word of God, and most of them give honor to her for pointing them to Jesus.  But they had to make their own decision to serve Him.  Grandma could not do that for them.

Abraham Lincoln was our tallest president, at 6' 4". When I found out about the distant kinship, I remarked, "Maybe that's where our oldest son gets his height!  Or my dad, for that matter!"  They (and others in our family) do have the same tall, lanky build as our 16th president!  But that is a matter of speculation. What really matters is that we trust and serve the great I AM! Jesus said in John 8:58, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."