My kids should thank me. I’m not leaving them anything after I’m gone for them to fight about as an inheritance. All I’m leaving are the memories of a great dad 🙂
Of course, most of us probably think of inheritance as stuff we can divide up and argue over. But the apostle Paul describes inheritance as something more meaningful than possessions.
We are children of God, and how awesome is that, but we are also heirs with Christ, especially as we suffer alongside him. To understand Paul’s thought, think of inheritance as more than a heavenly reward waiting beyond the clouds.
So much of faith gets pushed into the sweet by and by that we miss the shape of life with God today. This inheritance is about belonging. It is about identity, participation, and even responsibility right now.
Because an heir carries a family name, a family story, and often even a family resemblance. You can see it in the way people speak. They carry themselves a certain way, and they hold values without even realizing it. But inheritance also comes with responsibility. That made me think of field trips I went on as a young boy.
Teachers always prefaced our outings with that familiar speech: “You don’t just represent you. You represent your class and your school.” In many ways, the same is true of families.
We are carrying the family name. And we have nothing to divide as our inheritance, only the family name to share.
So, when Paul says we are heirs with Christ, part of what he’s saying is that the life of Jesus becomes the pattern of our lives. Not just what we believe about Jesus, but how we reflect Jesus. The family resemblance is meant to be recognized. And that should show up in the grace of our words, the mercy in how we respond, the courage in how we endure, the faith we hold strongly, and the love in how we show up for the world.
Stay blessed...john
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