35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Psalm 89:35-37

These three verses will be the first of a short series of Christmas devotionals focusing on the birth of Jesus.

We know that God was faithful to David, and continued his lineage up to the birth of Christ. Obviously, as the Son of God, Jesus’ reign will last forever. David’s physical lineage stopped at Christ, but there are still millions who follow Christ even to this day. In the spiritual sense, his lineage has clearly continued. “Now if we are children then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Romans 8:17

In Matthew 1, the Bible lists 28 generations from David to Jesus. Any number of things along the way could have prevented David’s lineage from continuing, including an exile to Babylon. But God had a purpose in preserving the lineage the way He did.

Now consider your lineage and ancestry. Thousands of events took place in order for you to be where you are. No one has the emotional and physical makeup that you do. Sure, you may dislike you may not see eye to eye with this relative or that one. You don’t particularly like a personality trait that you are sure you inherited from someone you care not to mention, but you are who you are, and your family is who your family is. You can change everything about yourself except for some physical features. I will note that Jesus had some interesting people in His ancestral chain. So did David.

As we enter into this Christmas season, thank God for your past. You have unique traits and skill sets that no one on the planet has. Embrace them. If you need to, change them. The absolute worst thing you can do is to complain about those traits (though it would be easy to do sometimes). Complaining never helps. Instead, recognize the Hand of God in your life; embrace that.