Sins of the Father

About a week ago I met the most annoying person I've ever met.  Sorry, not gonna sugarcoat it.  There are no other words.  I've never met anyone that can talk so much and also so loudly. I couldn't really escape it so I just sat there thinking things like "her poor mother" and "she's got issues" and "would you please shut up for one minute, one second!".  She was a foster kid I found out later.  So then my thoughts went to "she can't help it she's just dying for attention" - as if I'm a licensed therapist - and the old saying "sins of the father pass down to the sons" came to mind.  That saying didn't come to mind because she was sinning necessarily, just that she was the way she was because of life's circumstances.

Then literally the next day I read Ezekiel 18, "the soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him....for I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord, Repent and live!".

I just lived under the assumption that we are somehow guilty for the sins of our ancestors. It never really occured to me that, while we may live under the consequences of their guilt, we are not guilty of the sins they committed.  We will not be punished for someone else's sin, though we may be punished for our own. Our lives will throw us a few curve balls, but sometimes there is no explanation for trials except to give us the opportunity to bring glory to God.  I often think of the blind man in Mark 9 who was blinded "that the work of God may be displayed in his life" - he was not blind because of his own sin or parents sin.  What a difficult life he must have lived, but his life was for an awesome purpose and he is remembered to this day.

The Soveriegn Lord gives everyone their own chance to repent and live. We are our own person. We can choose to break free of a lifestyle (righteous or unrighteous) or choose to go down the same road of our parents before us.  I don't know her story but, most likely, this foster girl is living under the consequences of her parents guilt. They made sinful, selfish choices that directly affected her quality of life. She is not guilty of her parents sin, she can break free of a sinful past and "repent and live."  And maybe she has. Her life could be an awesome testimony.  I guess "annoying" is not a sin but it should be....clearly I don't have anything to work on. :)