A Worthy Inheritance
"In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
When my mother died, we received a small inheritance. We ended up with a few dollars and a lot of her artwork. As beautiful as her art pieces are, we only want so many flowers on our walls. We purchased much-needed appliances for our kitchen, and I bought a new bike. A monetary inheritance is helpful, but it comes and goes. Even people born with a silver spoon in their mouth and receiving millions in inherited dollars will one day realize that their money can only take them so far.
Everything we buy in life is momentary. I've had a few cars in my life that I really liked. They were never fancy, but some were new at the time. Almost all of them are in junkyards now. We can pretend we "own" our home, but sooner or later, someone else will live in our house and call it their's. It breaks my heart that when I die, my daughter will sell my cherished guitar, but what is she going to do with it? All our stuff is momentary. It will ultimately end up in a landfill or someone else's home or storage unit.
We should all seek a more permanent inheritance when faced with this glaring reality. God is offering us an extraordinary inheritance. God's inheritance is not momentary but eternal. God's inheritance does not wear out or get pawned. It gets more valuable each year. The reason is that God's inheritance has been invested well.
Rather than visiting with a financial planner, God's inheritance grows with your church commitment. The more you involve yourself in your church, the more your relationship with God grows through reaching up with a personal relationship with God, reaching out, and taking God's grace and love into the world. The more you give, the more inheritance you receive. God wants to provide you with the inheritance of eternal divine companionship, grace, and love. You don't have to wait until someone dies to receive your inheritance. It is already yours. Enjoy!
This devotion was originally published in September of 2017