Saturday, June 16, 2001
Saturday, June 16, 2001
He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the
good pleasure of his will.
Here is the rest of the story, however. One of his descendants recently became inspired to do
some research into the history of his family. What he discovered was a family scandal. It seems
that this supposed war hero had never served in the war at all. His mother had bought him out for
three hundred dollars. He simply relocated out west, walked with a limp, and passed down heroic
stories. The remarkable thing is not how he handled his disgrace, but how his story affected his
descendants--they became a family of military heroes. Great-granddaddy was a fraud, but still he
had an inspirational influence on his family.
Even his worst enemies would never accuse Jesus of being a fraud. His words and his actions
were one--and results of his influence on the life of humanity has been staggering. Jesus Christ is
still the most revolutionary influence for good in this world today.
(Ephesians 1:5
NRSV)
That's one story. Now consider another. There was another young man who had not only fought
in the Civil War, but had apparently been wounded. He was remembered by his descendants as
having walked with a limp for most of his adult life. In fact, he talked about his war experiences
so much that he started a long tradition of military heroism in the family. His grandson had fought
in World War I; his great-grandson, in World War II; and his great-great-grandson, in Vietnam.
All had been decorated soldiers.
Dear God, thank you for the good Jesus has given to me. Amen.
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