The Blessings Of Knowing Your Kinfolk

The Blessings Of Knowing Your Kinfolk

Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:29

“Marry out of state,” Grandma Anderson used to tell her kids and grandkids. She was a farmer’s wife, not a geneticist, but she knew that growing up in the South we had to be careful to trace our lineage so we didn’t end up marrying our cousins. “Marry out of state,” was her way of telling us to broaden the gene pool.

Being kinfolk helped bind our large Southern family together. Even if we didn’t see our relatives often, we were still close. We watched out for each other. Though generations of my family were spread across two states, we regularly got together for holidays. In the summer, I worked on my grandfather’s farm alongside relatives, though I wasn’t always sure of their relation. I just knew we were family.

Knowing your kin is not only helpful for feeling connected, but it can also be helpful to your doctor. Some diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, strokes, and cancer, run in families. Knowing the diseases that are a part of your family history can help a doctor to look for and more quickly recognize diseases in you. Often, the earlier a disease is diagnosed, the more options there are for treatment.

The same is true of your spiritual lineage. As Christ followers, we are heirs to the promises that God gives us in his Word. And as brothers and sisters in Christ, we have bonds of faith.

As today’s verse acknowledges, knowing where you’re from can tell you a lot about the direction you’re heading.

TODAY’S RX

Create a diary of your family’s health history. It can help your doctor to make an early diagnosis. Create a list of spiritual kin, as well. Brothers and sisters in Christ can give early warnings about sin or support you in prayer.

God, help me to take my physical and spiritual health seriously. Give me the wisdom I need to eat well, exercise, and take preventative measures against what may lie ahead. Help me, too, to be prayerful and in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.