What do apples have to do with a response to today's reading? Let's see if I might put this in perspective.
The reading this morning is from Matthew 1:1-17 and concerns the genealogy of Jesus from the male side of the family. Each of the fathers had a role in the life of Joseph, the one that God chose to be the husband of Mary. Of course, Joseph was not the real father of Jesus, but only the step father, as His mother Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born.
What was the role of each of the men listed in this chapter? They could not look forward through the centuries and see the result of their influence in the lives of their children, but it was there nonetheless. They had an importance that they could not know, for good or bad. Sometimes the children succeeded with the help of their fathers and sometimes in spite of their lineage.
The other day I wrote about our son's 50th birthday and I praised him for the things he had accomplished in his life. He put a comment on the blog site that said "the apple never falls far from the tree". Now I know that he meant this as a compliment, that the good that he had been able to do was a result of the way he was raised and the things that he had seen his father do, but I know there is a flip side to that as well.
What if I see things that any of my kids are doing that I think may be off the mark? Do I take credit for those as well? Can these be the same apples? There are a lot of things that I have done in my life, attitudes that I have shown, and actions that have not been right, that I do not want to see being passed down. I only want the good and the honorable to characterize my children.
Since that is true, the good and honorable part, how do I define a life that I would like to pass down? One that is characterized by God following, not an earthly following one. One that takes the good from my life and leaves the bad behind.
Maybe they will all just do what I say and not what I do.
God, please give them the wisdom to realize the difference.
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