Discovering Our Roots

Alex Haley spent more than a decade tracing his roots on three continents. He patched together bits and pieces of his family history as passed down through the centuries by word of mouth, census records, and family wills.

In time he discovered that in the year 1767 his ancestor had been kidnapped on the Gambia River in Africa, transported on a British slave ship to Annapolis, Maryland, and in 1768 sold to John Waller, of Richmond Virginia...

Our identity has its roots in the origin of life. Revelation reveals an amazing heavenly scene. Heavenly beings are praising God in the throne room of the universe. Their song of praise echoes throughout the heavens: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" (Revelation 4:11).

We are not some genetic accident. We are not some freak of nature. We are children of God, fashioned by a loving Creator. "For in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

Life is a gift from God. Every breath, every heartbeat, every second of life flows from the heart of a gracious Father. We did not create ourselves. We did not will ourselves into existence. We exist by the will of God, who has a plan for our lives.

Today we can praise Him for the gift of life. We can praise Him as our loving Creator and kind Father. We are not homeless orphans or shackled slaves. We are children of God, and no one in this world can take that away from us.—Mark Finley, Solid Ground, p. 316.