Key Passage
David was the father of Solomon. (Solomon's mother had been Uriah's wife.) Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa. Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
— Matthew 1:6b-10 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
Nearly every family has a few skeletons in its closets, and you can find them if you open up enough closets! As a propaganda piece, the Bible is not very good because it doesn't even try to hide the skeletons—not even in Jesus' family tree. Instead, the Scriptures are brutally honest about the failures of even our greatest Bible heroes. You look through today's verses and you'll find some serious skeletons. It's as if God is saying to us, "If I can bring triumph through them and their failures, just imagine what I can do through you!" I don't know about you, but that surely is encouraging to me. I call this the principle of “Hallelujah anyway!” God’s power and grace triumph over our failures. (FYI, for those not familiar with the idiom, "a skeleton in the closet" is another way of saying that someone has some bad family secrets that they try to keep hidden. One of the most significant "skeletons" is Bathsheba, the one for whom David lusted, then had her husband placed in danger so that he died in battle, and then David finally married her.)
Prayer
Almighty God, I am thankful that your strength is made perfect in weakness. I don't want to stumble or fall in my service to you, but it is very encouraging to know that you have raised so many others up from failure and made them useful and holy to you. Please forgive my sins and empower me to overcome my weaknesses and sin. Thank you for giving me reasons not to give up when I do falter. In the name of Jesus, my atoning sacrifice and hero, I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
I mean that you are saved by grace. And you got that grace by believing. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God. No! You are not saved by the things you have done. So no person can boast {that he saved himself}. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good things. God had already planned those good things for us. God had planned for us to live our lives doing those good things.
— Ephesians 2:8-10
Surely you know that the people that do wrong will not get God's kingdom. Don't be fooled. These people will not get God's kingdom: people that sin sexually, people that worship idols, people that do the sin of adultery, men that let other men use them for sex or that have sex with other men, people that steal, people that are greedy, people that get drunk, people that say bad things to other people, and people that cheat. In the past, some of you were like that. But you were washed clean, you were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
— 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of those sinners. But I was given mercy. I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. Christ showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. Christ wanted me to be an example for those people who would believe in him and have life forever. Honor and glory to the King that rules forever. He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen.
— 1 Timothy 1:15-17
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