Truth or Dare

So I hit a roadblock in my year-long Bible reading. I ran into the begats already. I don't remember there being a lot of genealogy in Genesis. It jumped out at me like a moose on a cold dark night while driving through the Pine Pass. I wasn't expecting it. Here I am, psyching myself up for Numbers and bam! Out of the clear blue sky God drops a big list of begats right in my lap. In Genesis of all places!

It's like someone's taunting me. (I won't say God, because that would be sacrilegious) "How are you going to make this apply? I dare you to write a blog post about genealogy!" Well, I never turn down a dare.

That's not true. I always turn down dares. I'm the biggest scaredy cat in the world. When we play truth or dare, I always go with truth. Always. Even with all the embarrassing things that have happened to me in my life time. Always go with truth. Dare? I think not. I don't want to run around outside in my underwear. I don't want to eat four raw eggs. Or a live goldfish. I'm not going to lick the road, jump off a building, or knock on my neighbor's door to ask for toilet paper. I'm just not into dares. Someone always gets hurt.

I've hurt myself enough in my life without doing something (really) stupid. I've broken my arm, dislocated my hip, ruptured a disk in my back, gotten shot by a bb gun (ok, that one was pretty stupid), gotten electrocuted (like, really electrocuted. None of this "fork in a socket" electrocuted. But that's a story for another day. And it wasn't my fault. Stupid hotel door.), gotten stitches in my knee, had a nail go through my foot, got stepped on by a horse, and other numerous bumps and bruises that aren't coming to mind right now. Probably because of numerous head injuries. Just kidding, my noggin has always remained safe and sound. See, I don't need to provide opportunities to get injured. These opportunities manifest themselves in my life already.

However, if you challenge me on an intellectual level, I will probably not be able to back down. I like to pretend that I'm really smart. I don't want everyone to find out that it's just a facade. So, if you challenge me by saying "I bet you can't find an applicable message from a genealogical list in the Old Testament" I will say "challenge accepted."

Being pregnant is a love/hate experience. Morning sickness? I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how awful it is. Decorating a nursery? Awesome! One of my favorite parts about being pregnant is scouring baby names. There's like a million baby name websites online now. My favorite is Nymbler. You give them some names that you like, and it gives you a whole bunch more based on your preferences. It's like a baby name game show! Seriously. You should check it out. You can waste a whole afternoon on that site.

Some people love using Biblical names for their offspring. I'm all for this. Especially if you go the extra mile and dig deep for your Biblical name. Who knew Jared and Kenan were Bible names? They sound pretty circa 1990's to me, but what do I know? Skip over the oft used names like John, Elizabeth, and Jacob. Here are my top suggestions for Bible Names (you probably won't find these on Nymbler):

Ashkenaz- Kind of has a ring to it. Sounds like a basketball player's name- Ashkenaz Olajuwon.

Put- you probably won't have to worry about anyone misspelling this one.

Zurishaddai- Seriously. Just say this name. It's all kinds of ballin'. It sounds even cooler if you whisper it.

Mushi- as in "I like my bananas mushi."

Arphaxad- Sounds like a heartburn medicine. "Honey, my reflux is acting up." "Well, go take an Arphaxad."

One Bible name I don't suggest? Nimrod. That's right. Nimrod. It was once a regal name; synonymous with bravery, might, heroism.

One of Cush's descendants was Nimrod, who became a heroic warrior.
He was a mighty hunter in the LORD's sight. His name became proverbial, and people would speak of someone as being "like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the LORD's sight."
Genesis 10:8&9

Wow, what an honor. When someone did something brave, their friends would say "they just pulled a Nimrod." It's like when I sing a crazy high solo in church people say "Elizabeth just pulled a Beyonce." Actually, I'm pretty sure when Beyonce sings people say "Beyonce just pulled an Elizabeth." But that's besides the point. Nimrod was a legend. The Bible said he "became proverbial."

When I saw this I kind of laughed to myself because I was thinking of the way we use the word Nimrod nowadays. Today's definition of Nimrod? A person regarded as silly, foolish, or stupid. Believe it or not, this usage became popular when used by Bugs Bunny to mock Elmer Fudd. Nimrod's legacy was marred by a cartoon bunny!

So, of course this got me thinking. How much weight do we put in others' opinions of who we are? Especially in a society who has a shorter attention span than my four year old son, popular opinion rises and falls like a stormy sea. I'm not saying that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater; if everyone really can't stand you, you might be doing a little something wrong. It may be time for a little self-evaluating.

But sometimes we need to let go of what others think and grasp what is important. When I was learning to drive, I would always get rattled by the person behind me. Of course I was driving carefully, going the speed limit, so the crazy person behind me wasn't too pleased. I could see them in my rear view mirror swerving all over, tailgating, and acting a fool. It would just get me flustered. My dad would tell me to not worry about the person in the rear view. He told me to focus on what was important- what was in front of me.

See, we always have the people in our lives that are constantly spewing negativity in our direction. No matter how you drive, it'll never be good enough. You see them in your rear view- criticizing your every move, using threatening fear-inducing tactics to try to force you to do things their way. But that's exactly why we need to let go of trying to please everyone. Trying to make everyone completely satisfied with us. Focus on your priorities. What's in front of you? What are your surroundings? Don't lose sight of your destination because of what's in your rear view. You'll end up crashing and burning worrying about what's behind you- what you have no control over.

People may love you today, but your legacy will one day fade away. Twenty years from now a cartoon rabbit robot(everything's robot in the future) will be flying around in its car (everyone knows that you have to include flying cars in any mention of the future) mocking our legacy. But what matters in the end? One day the memory of who we were will grow dimmer and dimmer until it passes away. But what remains?

"The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people.
The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:7&8

One day all that surrounds us will fade away. But the word of God stands forever. It's HIS legacy that remains. So why do we waste time honoring our legacy? Instead, may everything we do point to Him. The glory we give Him is eternal. If our lives point towards Him, others will see and come to know Him. That produces eternal results.

If one hundred years from now I haven't been cryogenically frozen and resuscitated once medicine has found a way to keep me alive longer, no one will probably remember my name. No one's going to remember me as a mighty, courageous warrior. And it doesn't really matter. I want to live to serve my king. To love my God and the people I come in contact with. Storing up my treasures in Heaven. That's the legacy I want to leave.