Skip to main content

Spiritual Inheritance

Have you ever thought about how much you will leave as an inheritance? I've thought a lot about saving money for my later years and I regularly hear from people who are concerned about how much or how little they will be able to pass on and sometimes those who feel the pressure of wisely handling the inheritance they know will be passed down to them. Today, as I read Exodus 20 I was struck by the inclusion of a spiritual inheritance within the famous passage of the Ten Commandments. Those who hate God pass on a curse while those who love and obey pass on a blessing.

How often do I really think about spiritual inheritance?

This is a weighty and complex thing to consider but I want to focus on the generosity aspect. Most of the time, I think about my faith as a personal relationship and the application of blessing is usually in reference to my current circumstances. Yet I also know that I cannot separate my personal call from the corporate call as one of His people. This means that my walk with Jesus has an impact on the generations that come after me. Not only is this true for my immediate family, but for my household of faith as well.

What is also noteworthy is that while the curse is passed down for a few generations, the blessing covers thousands of generations! One person who loves God through following His instructions can change the direction of a household far greater than someone who hates God through disobedience. Understanding this gives a weight to my steps and a purpose to my righteous relationship that is far greater than my individual, immediate circumstances.

To obey the first commandment is to live a life of generosity as I build a spiritual inheritance for the generations that will follow me. I may not be able to stash away millions or leave stock options or homes, but I can store up treasures in the Kingdom that will be poured out of God's storehouses for generations to come.

I have to add, I am so thankful for the blessing that has been poured out on my spiritual life from all those who came before me and invested so heavily into my future. God, strengthen my obedience that I may leave the coming generations with a spiritual inheritance of abundant blessing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Endurance and Encouragement?

 Romans 15:5-6 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,   that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The endurance of welcoming others in the midst of differing convictions can encourage the weak by walking together in full faith and the strong in demonstrating meekness. This harmony of relationship doubles as a song of praise, lifted in corporate worship. The Father is glorified in unlikely friendships, called and built together through the unique work of the Son, and operating in the unity of the Spirit. This is not possible apart from the body, the church, as it is built by God. As a light, we shoulder the responsibility of how we shine. In the darkest of times, every one of us is hoping to find the right way forward. It can be easy to blind someone with a flashlight but that only makes it difficult to see. It is better to walk together, heading in the s
Post a Comment
Read more

Build

One of the most humbling moments of my submitted life occurs when I approach God in prayer. I know who God is and if I pause too long I get overwhelmed by the question of why He would bend His almighty ear to my words. I know I'm not alone in this feeling. A key aspect of this difficulty is believing that I need to get my life together before I pray. God, in His holiness, surely does not want to hear from someone who is in the middle of stumbling through their circumstances, right? Not to mention the fact that God surely would be able to hear my words better if my actions weren't getting in the way. I mean, I can't come to Him about life's specks until I remove my own plank, that's for sure... or is it? When Jesus taught us how to pray He said our first two words should be, "Our Father." It is on this teaching I must build my entire understanding of prayer. Obviously, I don't have to begin every single prayer with those two words but I do have to
Post a Comment
Read more

In the Moment

I need times of transition. This is something that I have discovered about myself and my daily life. I have a difficult time jumping from one thing to the next, especially if I have spent a significant amount of time dedicated to a single focus. To contextualize what I am talking about let me say that on any given day I come up with a new list of three things to accomplish and I add these to my "daily six list." Those six are the things that I have prayerfully decided upon in order to keep myself accountable and effective in my calling and purpose. Applying both of those lists to my routine has taken a lot of time and discipline to include as an every day reality, but to talk more about that would be a blog of a different color. I usually don't need a transition between each of those nine daily items as they are similar in focus and the mental/spiritual/emotional preparation is the same. However, when I go home I need a time of transition to adjust my focus so that I
Post a Comment
Read more