She Was Labeled “Prostitute”

Matthew 1 opens with something most of us tend to skip. The genealogy of Jesus. But tucked in those verses is a powerful reminder of God's grace.
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob,

Then verse 5:
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was RAHAB,Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Jesse the father of King David.

Rahab was a Canaanite woman. A former prostitute. Yet here she is, listed in the family line of Jesus.

Think about that for a second.

When God chose to highlight the ancestry of the Savior of the world, He didn’t hide the messy parts. He included them on purpose.

Rahab had a label. She carried a reputation. But God gave her a future.
We often let people’s words or our past define us forgetting that God’s plans run deeper than any label.
If Rahab had believed the whispers around her, she might have never had the courage to help the spies Joshua 2. She might have never found her way into God’s story.

But she did. And you can too.
No label is louder than the voice of God calling you His own.

Reflection: What labels have you placed on others assuming their story is too far gone for God to use?
What label have you allowed to stick? What part of your story have you assumed disqualifies you? Hand it to God He still writes with broken pens.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that my past doesn’t disqualify me. Thank You for calling me chosen, even when others call me something else. Use my life like You used Rahab’s — for Your glory.

Verse of the Day: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Song of the Day: Rescue by Lauren Daigle. A reminder that God sees us, no matter how far we’ve fallen.

~~God is on your side