Reflection:  This year I celebrated my birthday with a spit test. This DNA sample promised to root me in a tree. I’ve since been climbing that tree with shared names and genetics tracing back to the 1400s. Oh, but it goes way beyond that!

Human nature is a corpse with the genetics of sin. And those genes, we all share, from time immemorial. But you, Saint ______________, you are not defined by human nature. Your identity is spiritual…Because the sinless Saviour has settled in you, his Spirit breathes life into you. And because that’s the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, he’s not just the breath you breathe, he’s your life beyond the grave.*

Each person in my family tree has a name, date of birth and date of death. Some are ‘unknown’. So far, no death date says ‘never’. However, that, brother and sister saints, is the family tree into which we’ve been grafted.

*Romans 8:9-11

Prayer: While human nature itself still remains bound by sin, my identity is now in you, Lord Jesus Christ. Being shackled in human nature was confounding and deadly. But that’s my past.  Now, impassioned by your living Spirit, I entrust each element of myself to you, as an implement of righteousness.

(Slow down and re-read that last sentence a few times until you grasp how practical a prayer it is for today.)