Riches Promised to Me

In the second half of the 20^th century, a time of amazing prosperity, wealth was accumulated by a hard-working, thrifty generation.  These people were born during the Great Depression and experienced the trauma of the Second World War. After the war, the nation prospered.  They gained education and, with their diligence, built greater net worth than any previous generation. Their wealth is now passing, in inheritances, to the next generation.   

Will this wealth be wasted or turned into an engine for another wave of prosperity?  Economists wonder.  Commonly, by the third generation, inherited wealth is a kind of curse.  Grandfather pours himself into work building a company. Son continues the effort, consolidating the wealth and creating stability. Grandson, raised in comfort and not knowing ‘need,’ fails to take up the challenge.

Adopted into the family of God, I am an heir!  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:3-9, NIV)

My inheritance is of far greater worth than dollars!  Abba, in great grace, adopted me into His family and promised me an eternal home.  This is my living hope. As the Word says, being an heir does not exempt me from going through trouble. Indeed those difficulties, tests, and trials have a real purpose – to refine and purify faith.  He does not want me to a lazy heir, a coddled son who does not realize the value of the inheritance. He wants me to know what a privilege I enjoy as His child and to be diligent in living for His honor, even as I wait for the full investment of Life that is already mine in His will.

The promise of an inheritance is real with a powerful effect in our Christianity.  The Word says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:15-17, NIV)

Where is your hope found, Christian?
Are you trying to build an kingdom here on earth? 
Are you chasing riches that cannot last, accumulating a store of things that you will leave behind at the moment of your death? 
OR, are you focused on the treasure of eternity, faithfully living as an heir with the promise of your Abba shaping your choices today? 

Through Christ, I am an heir and so are you.  Live worthy of the family Name.

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Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

O what a foretaste of glory divine.

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, all is at rest.

I, in my Savior, am happy and blest.

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song;

Praising my Savior, all the day long!

This is my story, this is my song;

Praising my Savior, all the day long!

Fanny Jane Crosby | Phoebe Palmer Knapp

© Words: Public Domain