Who are you? How do you describe yourself in relation to others?

“Who do you think you are?” is the TLC show that features a celebrity researching their ancestors. They may start out in another country and trace the travels of a particular generation. They find out about the marriages, births and deaths from church and government documents. They get a glimpse of life in previous centuries with land deeds, wills and marriage contracts. After watching a few episodes, I found it interesting how much learning about the people in one’s past affected the seekers. In one instance, it was disappointing to find out that a pattern of father leaving his family occurred over several generations. Another was amazed with all the experiences and trials that his ancestors had gone through. It was evident that finding the details of the people’s lives touched them at a personal level.

In watching the effect the knowledge had on the seekers, I found a similarity of seeking out the bits of information to try to paint the picture of the ancestors’ lives, to that of learning about Jesus. If learning about the people in previous generations can touch a person’s heart, how much more can learning about Jesus change our lives? While the Gospels are not a daily diary of Jesus actions, they paint a much bigger picture of Jesus’ life and about the lives of the people He touched. No matter how often I read the same scripture passage, often I see a different perspective that leads me to a deeper relationship with Him. They are more than just a catalog of where he was or what he said in a government inquiry, they convey His teaching of God and how we can have a relationship with Him.

I just don’t think, I know I am a child of God. And there is no limit to what you can learn when you continually seek Him.