Heritage

Missing hero

Before my dad passed away, he and I would get together on Wednesdays. We’d talk, read, pray, laugh, eat, and sometimes take naps. It was a special highlight of my week.  Just sitting with my dad made me stronger. His wisdom and practical understanding of God and His Word was a treasure I am thankful for.

Heritage is a missing element of 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. Relationships are dysfunctional. Instead of getting strength from our families, they’ve become sources of pain. And it’s this kind of pain that gives rise to this…

“There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother.”
(Proverbs 30:10)

New family

It is a sad fact that many of our fathers and mothers were horrible, perhaps even deserving our scorn. And as a result we live with a void of any heritage in natural terms.  But in spiritual terms it’s a different story! We can have a heritage that is better than anything this world has to offer.

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life you are now brought into God’s family. Your heritage is no longer through your earthly family, but through God’s. 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 and am very grateful for the things we experienced together, but that’s not the heritage that makes my life truly special. My life, and everyone else’s who knows Jesus, has been made special because we were brought into God’s family. We did nothing to deserve it, yet God chose to pursue a relationship with us. That’s now our heritage, and it’s a heritage unlike any other!