As I watched my dad lying in the hospital breathing his last breaths, I had no regrets.
My dad and I had spent every Wednesday together for the last three years. We talked, read, prayed, laughed, ate, and sometimes took naps. It was the highlight of my week. Just sitting with my dad made me stronger. His wisdom and practical understanding of God and His Word is a treasure I am thankful for, and that lives on in me.
Heritage is a missing element in our modern world. Very few people have someone they can look to as model for living, much less someone they would consider a hero. Many of our families are fractured. Much of our relationships are dysfunctional. At times, it seems we’ve no one but ourselves.
The writer of Proverbs said,
“There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother.” (Proverbs 30:10)
It is a sad fact that in many of our lives our fathers and mothers were horrible, perhaps even deserving our cursing. And now we live with a void of any heritage in the natural. But in spiritual terms we can regain a heritage that is better than anything the world has to offer.
You see when you make Jesus Lord of your life, you are now a part of God’s family, and your heritage is founded on God’s Word and His kingdom. Paul says in Romans,
“You were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root” (Romans 11:17)
I loved my dad, but it’s not the heritage of being a “Phillips” that makes things special. It’s that I, and anyone else who knows Jesus Christ, have been grafted into the vine of God’s family tree. We are now brothers and sisters in God’s family.
You may not know who it is right this moment, but there’s actually somebody who wants to spend time with you. They’d love to talk, read, eat, or just hang out together with you. And God will use you to affect them and pass on a spiritual heritage that will live on after you’re gone. And when that day comes, they’ll tell others how they have no regrets for the time spent with you…maybe they’ll even blog about it.
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