I’m connected to the seventh generation in my family. I got to meet the sixth generation in my family when I saw my then five month-old granddaughter in July. The Lord reminded me that I saw my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, my brothers and sisters, my son and daughter, and now my granddaughter in person. I don’t know how many generations of your family that you have seen. seeing six generations alive is rare.
I opened up a family Bible this Tuesday morning, December 2, 2025 and found a note inside. I never read the notes inside of it before. The name of great, great uncle was on the cover. I heard about him. I never met him. He died of heart failure in 1945, nine years before I was born. I took for granted that this Bible was to be kept as a family keepsake. I received the Bible from my dad in November 2002. I put it aside for years.
I read the notes today. My Mom was the great niece of the person who owned the Bible. I discovered more of the family heritage. I found out the name of my great-great grandfather. I didn’t know this before. I read that my mother’s mother and her great uncle were born at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The fort was active all the way back to the War of 1812 against the British and before.
I am touched. I found out by reading inside the first pages that my great-great grandfather was a Christian. He listed verses like Revelation 3:20 and Matthew 22:14 as personal references.
For me, family heritage is a blessing. I’ll have the opportunity to share this heritage with my children. They will get to see the faith that different family members had.
Not everyone in my family heritage accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. No one is a Christian by birth. John 1:11-13 from my Great Great Uncle’s King James Bible printed in Great Britain: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, noe of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
What is your family’s religious heritage? Maybe some of you are first generation Christians. Write down your testimony. Keep it in a safe place so that you can pass it on to your children and grandchildren.
It’s the holiday season. What better time to take time to write your grandchildren about what the Lord Jesus did in your life and in the lives of those who went before you.
Richard Szalecki, pronounced, “Sah-LEH-key” is a Christian Leader and writer who recently retired. He lives with his wife Cheryl in Northwest Florida. He’s currently visiting his granddaughter and step-granddaughter in Plant City, near Tampa, Florida.
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