I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.  Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

2 Timothy 1:3 – 5

I find it interesting that Paul, in writing to his young colleague, reflects on ancestry.  He reminds Timothy that both his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice lived a life of faith even though they both had Gentile husbands and they lived in Turkey, far from Palestine.

Paul sees that life of faith in God is also in Timothy.  So in that way Timothy follows in a line of those two remarkable women.  Paul calls it “sincere faith.”  It was that faith that joined Timothy with the past, not some Jewish heritage or blood.

Paul acknowledged his own debt to his ancestry by noting that, as his ancestors served God, so does he.  It was done with a “clear conscience.”  Paul did not, in any way, stand in judgment on his ancestors.  His father, as a strict Jewish Pharisee, sought to keep his conscience clear by adhering to a life so structured that it reflected a sincere faith in God.  In all his writing Paul never pointed a finger toward his ancestors.  He valued that history.  His meeting with Jesus Christ did not skew the importance of ancestry.  So, as a mature follower of Jesus, Paul could honestly say, “I serve (God) as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience.”  Note, he does not say “served” but “serve.”  There is compelling continuity there.

For Paul, meeting Jesus had phenomenal consequences, but it did not sever him from his God-loving ancestors.  Paul embraced his past!  I think I should do that as well.  I found myself doing so as I wrote about my family history, a kaleidoscope of influences and blood. I can honestly say, I thank God for my family history!  Grace helps that to happen.

As Paul found faith in his strict Jewish family, so Timothy found faith in his mother and grandmother whose situation resembled Paul’s family, not at all.  The true heritage is not blood, but faith.  I like Paul’s words, “sincere faith.”  I rest on that.  It is found in many guises.