Finding Your Roots

There is more and more interest these days in finding our family histories. Where did I come from? What is my ancestry? We are encouraged to search the Web to find our roots, to find our particular branch on the family tree. You can even mail away a sample of your DNA and the results should tell us what particular part of the world we originated from.

By looking into our ancestry, what are we looking for? Are we looking for meaning, life, purpose, satisfaction, joy, and fulfillment? Too often we find that after we have sought after these things, we have a degree of satisfaction but we still find a lack of fulfillment. We are still hungry for the truth, for that thing that is missing in our lives. There is still a thirst, a hunger and a sense of need in our hearts.
I researched more into my family history and traced it back as far as the late 1700’s to North West England. As I researched more, I discovered roots from Scotland, Ireland and Germany. But I have not discovered any documents that go back further.

Hearing the story of Saroo, in the movie “Lion”, it was encouraging and heartwarming that he found his birth mother, after six years of painstaking work of retracing his steps before he was lost. With the aid of modern technology, “Google”, he discovered where the right place was to search for the answers he required.

This made me think of my search in life, for purpose, happiness, satisfaction and joy. I soon discovered that I needed to search beyond my physical history and DNA, I need to look into my Spiritual ancestry and DNA. We read in the Book of Genesis that God created mankind in His image. So this tells me that there is a certain spiritual DNA that God has placed in each one of us. But sin has separated us from God but not the DNA that He created in us. Many have describe it like we have a God-shaped void in our being. In a sense, we are all hardwired by God to walk in a relationship with him, just as Adam and Eve did and we were never supposed to experience death. We are hardwired by God to live forever and to fulfill a specific purpose in our lives.

In his books, “A Particular Glory” and “Reading the Bible Supernaturally”, John Piper describes the human soul as a template for God, who is the epitome of value, excellence, and beauty. We are made for God. We were made to enjoy and delight in Him forever, to truly live by loving Him.

Because of sin, we fall short of His glory. We reject God, who is the very definition of love and the Giver of Life. Our templates remain, but our desires, our affections have become somewhat distorted. We search for significance in the wrong places because we are not looking in the right place.

God knows that we need Him, that our search will only be fulfilled in knowing and walking closely with Him. He is our ultimate end and our eternal reward.

In a blog by Kristen Wetherell, she shared that we seek for meaning in our lives in our:

VOCATIONS.
Where we might fail and lose the promotion, or we are successful but find that the money and perks are disappointing.

FAMILIES.
But our families do not say or do what we want them to do, making some days very long and hard and on other occasions they are everything we desire but we still feel empty at the end of the day.

IN WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF US.
We look a friends and strangers on social media, but they criticize, deflate our significance, or they complement us, leaving us to crave their praise.

IN MONEY AND PROSPERITY.
We look to our possessions and savings accounts and retirement funds for life. We feel secure, but only when we have a safety net. Extra money and things appear to ease our worries, but only until it is lost.

HEALTH AND FITNESS.
We feel fulfilled when we are in shape and look our best. But when illness hits or when wrinkles inevitably appear, we get a bit anxious about the end our natural lives approaching.

I like how that in Psalms 21, King David was searching for never-ending life, but in this case, he was searching for the right thing in the right place. The desires of his heart were shaped by the template of his soul. He found everything he wanted – everything God made for him – in God!

The King shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life from You, and you gave it to him – Length of days forever and ever.

His glory is great in Your salvation; honor and majesty You have placed upon him.

For You have made him most blessed forever; you have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

The right place to seek for life, happiness, fulfillment and roots, is in Christ Jesus. John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus also stated in John 17 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

As we seek God and His Kingdom, He will bless us with life because He is The Life. Colossians 3:3-4 states that our life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Seek Jesus, who is your life. Jesus, the resurrected one who gives us abundant life and eternal hope from His victory over death. (John 11:25; Revelation 1:18)

Look for your ancestry in the right place. Your life is hidden in Christ Jesus. When you seek Him, you will find Him and you will find life and that life will be in abundance