May 9 - 1 Chronicles 25-27: Looking for Myself

Confession:  when Cici posted the pictures of the blog coffee, I immediately searched for pictures of myself to see how I looked.  Did I remember to put on lipstick?  How dark were the circles under my eyes?  Sigh.  Sad to admit, but that's where my focus was first.  Then, of course, I looked at all the beautiful faces of my lovely friends and remembered the feelings of belonging and freedom and encouragement that came from our time together.

Another, less embarrassing, moment of "looking for myself" came this past week on a field trip with my 4th grader at the Institute of Texan Cultures.  I went to the Irish-Texans section to find the plaque honoring my five greats-grandfather, who helped Stephen F. Austin settle Texas. There is no longer a plaque with his name on it.  It was removed during a remodel.

Reading these chapters of 1 Chronicles, with lists of names assigned to specific tasks in the Temple, I found myself glancing through the reading.  I knew my name wasn't there, nor was anyone else that I knew. But, as Larry Crabb points out, the people who were reading these lists found them anything but boring.  Like me, they were looking for themselves.

"...a word about the genealogies that you found so dull.  The restored community found them invigorating.  I traced their ancestry back to the beginning of My plan...all the way down to the names of the remnant that I preserved and who were now gathered in Jerusalem.  And that remnant included all the people necessary to worship Me in the temple as I had directed.  They  knew they were part of the plan.  I want you to know that too."  [66LL]

My  name isn't listed in the genealogies of the Bible.  But, my name is in the Book of Life and I am a part of God's plan.  So are you.  And just like the Musicians and Preachers (ch. 25), the Security Guards (ch. 26), the Financial Accountants and Bookkeepers (ch 26), and the Military (ch. 27), we all are necessary to worship God as He has directed.