Mar 14 - "Your Inheritance"

Genesis 48:8-22
"When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, 'Who are these?' Joseph said to his father, 'They are my sons, whom God has given me here.' And he said, 'Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.'”
Romans 8:11-25
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him."
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How many of us are hoping for that long-lost, unknown, great-Aunt who is going to leave us a million dollars in her will? Or maybe that eccentric 3rd cousin-in-law twice removed who bought ten thousand shares of a funny company called Apple in 1980 and stuck it under his mattress, only to leave it to you because you gave him a plate of jello with pears floating in it at a family reunion 20 years ago.

I suppose some of us have dreams, at times, of a rich inheritance that will set our lives on easy street. For others, maybe its the Powerball, Lotto or Hoosier Millionaire. ;-)

My brother, sisters and I joke around with our mom and dad every once in awhile at how much they are going to leave us in their wills, as well as what we do or don't do at times that will keep us "in" or "out" of these anarchic documents. The discussion always ends in the same way; we want them to spend every penny and enjoy all the blessings their hard work has brought them. Each of us are fine and aren't counting on anything, except for maybe family heirlooms such as the Beatles lunchbox, Barney's head, the front porch hammock or our famous giant beach innertube.

But the truth of the matter is that we have already been given a rich inheritance; one that we don't have to wait for, but that we can enjoy right now. We have been given the opportunity to live in the light; to walk with God and with Christ in every moment of our lives. And the most wonderful news about this inheritance? We can never do anything that, at the end of our lives, will separate us from this gift. The debt has been paid in full. The will has already been written in the blood shed on the Cross, and it cannot ever be changed.

The question often comes up, how will will we spend our inheritance? Will we squander it or will we put it to good use? And most importantly, will we also hand along a share of this inheritance to our children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren? Should we also not ensure that those small and growing lives in which we have been entrusted also become aware of and are enabled to redeem the gift of this inheritance?

So, rejoice in your inheritance. Use it as it was intended...to be enjoyed fully while we are here in this world. Take a share of it and hand it down. For, when properly nourished, the portion we pass along takes root, grows and flowers into something more beautiful, rich and greater than if we had kept that portion to ourselves.