The Inheritance

Hebrews 13:5b – Be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (NIV)

Ephesians 1:17 – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (NIV)

My maternal grandfather was a prominent lawyer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Consequently, my mother grew up with a butler, chauffeur, and maid. My father, on the other hand, lived a humble life to which my mother, after her marriage, seemed to accept and to adopt well.

Mom did a great job of providing. We certainly never went hungry. But the small set of shelves for food was often near empty by payday. As a youngster, I had no idea when or how much dad was paid, but we did learn that we were a few days away from a payday when mom opened the last can of brown beans or when I smelled liver and onions cooking!

Mom never complained about dad's inability to provide her with the lifestyle to which she had been accustomed. She and dad were too deeply in love for that. But one of the things that kept mom hopeful was "The Inheritance".

She knew that, regardless of her present circumstances, there would always be future financial resources from my grandfather's portfolio to more than provide for her future needs. As hard as things got in our family, she knew that her difficult present circumstances were temporary and that an inheritance was forthcoming.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes to those who were being persecuted for their faith, as was Paul himself, being imprisoned in Rome at the time. Paul knew personally the cost of choosing between following the crowd or following Christ, and he knew the difficulty those of Ephesus would have in choosing.

As followers of Christ, we live not only for the life we have today, but also for our eternal inheritance. For many, the earthly world may work against us if we are truly faithful to Christ, but thank God, we have a higher calling, and we have an eternal inheritance to look forward to, one which offers us hope for that which is to come.

As it was difficult for those early Christians in Ephesus, so, too, our decision between Christ and the crowd is often difficult for us. But this life is not our only focus, and our earthly goods are not what we live for.

So, in a sense, as loyal children of the living God, we are all like my mother who received an inheritance that she did nothing to deserve, save being a loyal child. We have an inheritance that we did nothing to deserve. It is an inheritance which cannot be taken from us. It is imperishable. It is eternal. It is everlasting. Like my mother who continued in the meantime to work in her humble circumstances, we need to work for the Lord, so that as many others as possible will receive an inheritance that they didn't deserve either.

Prayer: Lord, You hold back nothing from us. All good gifts are from You, especially the supreme gift of everlasting life. You have promised that You would never leave us nor forsake us. Help us always to live as if our inheritance were based not on the things on this world, but on our relationship with You. Amen.