Matthew 1

This morning, as our family read chapter 1, I was struck again by who was listed in the genealogy. In this culture, women were nothing. They held no status whatsoever. Yet here, as Matthew begins his account of Jesus' life, he includes 5 women - Rahab, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. We know that Rahab and Ruth weren't even Jewish. As we read from our perspective, it is so easy to miss this subtle truth: God invites every one of us - no matter who we are, where we've been, what we've done - into his story. God doesn't look at us like we often look at ourselves (I'm not good enough, I'm such a failure, I hope people like me, I need to prove myself) and He doesn't look at us like others look at us. God looks at us as a treasured possession, His very children, chosen, adopted into His family. You and I are invited into the story God is writing in our world. Rahab, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary all stepped into what God was doing in the world. Will we?