What day is St. Patrick's day?

I was in the grocery earlier this week and the checker asked (those standing
there in general), "What day is St. Patrick's day?" I knew that I had heard
a few comments about it, but I really didn't pay any attention. A thought
popped into my head of, "I'm not Irish and I don't really care."

Now I know that kind of thinking may be offensive to some of you devoted
Irish or those of Irish descent, and I'm sorry if that offends you. I read a
something that said, "Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's day." That may be
true in the thinking of some, but I'm known for being kind of a
non-conformist. I have the greatest of respect for the Irish and for all of
the contributions they have made to our world and our country. Some of my
best friends have Irish blood flowing through their veins. To look at me
before I turned gray you would have though that I had Irish blood, with my
dark red hair and beard, but my ancestry has no links to Ireland of which
I'm aware.

For me the most important link in my history is that which links me to
Christ. I might be lots of things as far as my ancestry goes, but none of
them has any importance in my life, except the blood line that links me to
Christ.

Paul knew the truth of this when speaking to Christians he wrote: "In this
new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or
uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that
matters, and he lives in all of us." (Colossians 3:11-12, NLT)

Another way of saying it could be like this: "Words like Irish or not-Irish,
the in crowd or an outsider, those with the "Right" backgrounds or ancestry
mean nothing. From now on EVERYONE IS DEFINED BY THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH
CHRIST. " (RL)

So what is really important about who YOU are and WHERE you come from? There
is only one blood line that ultimately matters, the one connecting you to
Christ. Paul also wrote in Romans 6:3-5, "Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection."

Are you joined with Christ? That's what really matters!

Russ Lawson