Do you know your family heritage? Have you ever taken the time to trace it back more than two generations? Back before my grandmother died I decided to make my mother a family heritage scrapbook. I would go over to her house once a week and we would sort through pictures and she would tell me the stories behind each one while I furiously took notes. I never knew how precious those days would become to me in the future. My grandmother developed Alzheimer’s and our family history would have been locked inside of her had I not spent those days with her recording our family’s story. Now I can look at the pictures in the album and not only know who the people are, but remember the way my grandmother spun the tale of each one.

Jacob visited by God on his journey to Padden Ram to take a wife [Genesis 28:10-22]. In verse 13 God identifies Himself “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” God was explaining the history of relationships He had with Jacob’s forefathers; however, Jacob had to make the choice to have God his God. Christianity is the only religion where you must make an individual choice to follow God and have a relationship with Him. If you’re born into a Jewish family, you’re considered a Jew. If you’re born into a Muslim family, you’re considered a Muslim. If you’re born into a Christian family, you are blessed because the deck has been stacked in favor of you becoming a Christian, but the choice is yours.

I’ve heard it said that being in a Christian family doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in McDonald’s makes you a hamburger. The Lord bids us to come, but we come of our own accord. We do not ride the coattails of another. Matthew 7:13-14 talks of the narrow gate that leads to a relationship with the Lord. Every time I read those verses I am reminded of the narrow gate out of the slave castle in Ghana. There was no way more than one person at a time would fit through it.

If we’ve passed through that gate, but have family members and friends who haven’t, we can’t pull then through, but we can pray them through. The Lord answers prayers that line up with His heart. It is His desire that none will perish, but have everlasting life [John 3:16]. Therefore, we must pray them into the Kingdom. I like a big family. How about you?