Blogging Through The Season - Day 6

BLOGGING THROUGH THE ADVENT SEASON
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

DAY 6 – JESSE AND THE CHRISTMAS LEGACY
One day Jesse’s life and the life of his family was changed by the visitation of Samuel the Prophet. Samuel asked for all his sons to anoint one for a special service. Jesse presented his sons, but Samuel did not choose any of them (1 Samuel 16:10).  He asked Jesse a pointed question. Are all your sons here? At that point, Jesse had to present David, his youngest. I believe Jesse did not voluntarily put David in the lineup because he was with the sheep. Not that Jesse was ashamed of him, but it could be that David seemed to be contented with the menial task of shepherding as he was ever attending to his father’s sheep. Maybe he would have no interest in the special service.  However, that was the son that Samuel chose to anoint as the next king of Israel. David. The last fruit of Jesse’s loins (1 Samuel 16 :11-13). The son who later wrote Psalms 23 “The Lord is my shepherd.”  
Undoubtedly, Jesse did not know what an impact his son David would have had on history. He did not know about the prediction in Isaiah 11 verse one about Jesus being the shoot coming up from his lineage through David his son. Just as Samuel went to Jesse and revealed to him that he had another worthy son for the line-up to be King, so it is that God has a way of coming into our lives and confronting us with even the hidden things so that we can surrender all to him. Many people live to see and enjoy their input in their children and even their great, great grandchildren’s life. Some die in their pursuit to make a better life for their future generation. Fortunately for Jesse, he lived to see his youngest son anointed to be King of Israel and live up to the responsibilities that came with “anointing”. Generations later, Simeon and Anna were in the temple at Jerusalem that David built. They lived to see and hold Jesse’s legacy, Jesus Christ, who came through the lineage of David (Luke 2 vs 25 to 38). We may not live to see what pursuits our family lineage undertake but let us pray that our Godly lifestyle and influence will be passed on through each generation and that they too will make a Godly impact on the world to the glory of God.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This pronouncement brought Jesse’ generational tree to fulfilment of the messianic promise in Isaiah 11:1-10 (NKJV)There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.  This is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Some do not want to celebrate because of some traumatic event in their lives during this season: loss of a loved one, financial loss, a divorce and the list goes on… My friend died by suicide one Wednesday before Christmas. We sat together in church the Sunday before it happened. This was a very traumatic for me. The Comforter surely does make a difference in our times of grief and loss. Jesus, the Son of David, and the Holy Spirit, The Comforter have come to make our Christmas the best. The legacy, the fruit of Jesse’s loin; Jesus the Son of David has come. Won’t you make Him your choice today?