Every family has at least one person who has a checkered past. Every family has that one person whose name, when brought up in coversation, immediately reduces everyone to whsipers and furtive looks. The one everyone talks about and shakes their head and says things like, “Bless their heart.”

I bet you never thought about the fact that God has a family tree, too. He does. And His family tree has a few names that would cause some people to blush. He has a liar, a cheat, a whore, and a despised foreigner among the list.

The liar is Abraham, who twice lied about Sarah being his sister rather than his wife to save his own skin.

The cheat is Jacob who tricked his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a cup of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.

The whore is Rahab whose redeeming act was to hide the Israelite spies and cast her lot with God’s people over her own people.

The despised foreigner is Ruth, one of the Moabites that were on Israel’s bad side ever since they didn’t let God’s people pass through their land when Israel was in the wilderness.

All these people had a part in bringing about the arrival of the Messiah. What to the world were a bunch of rejects and outcasts became a part of God’s story.

We too get to be  a part of the story God is telling. We are invited to be His children. We are the living love letters that God writes to the world to show just how strong He is to rescue and save anyone. We are the ones whose transformed lives are the best advertisement for how God’s love conquers all.

Remember that the next time your own story doesn’t seem to be going well. Your story is about more than just you. You get to be a part of something so much bigger and better than you.

And besides, I happen to have read the last page on the story and [SPOILER ALERT] WE WIN!!!