A Priceless Inheritance

As many of you who have been reading my blog know, my Dad passed away recently. I shared previously a little about our relationship. The fact is it wasn’t much of a relationship at all. Sadly, we only spoke, on average, once per year in the past four years. I did visit him a couple times when I first heard of his illness back in 2004. Prior to that time, I hadn’t heard from or seen him since 1994. There are many reasons for this, one being that he was just a difficult person to keep in touch with; but probably the real reason has to do with his illness. He was an avid drinker for most of his life. In fact, I’ve never know him to not drink except for during these last five years that he battled advanced liver disease.

When his wife informed me of his death, she also told me that he had an insurance policy in an unspecified amount for my brother and me to share. My first inclination was to say, “I don’t care about that! He doesn’t owe that to me and I don’t deserve it.” But as the days pass and the reality of the situation becomes more real to me, the inheritance becomes less obscure, and more tangible. Actually, I’m beginning to get excited about it. Regardless of how I may feel about my inheritance, he has provided it to me because I am his child, and he loved me. Who am I to refuse the gift of a father’s love? Now don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have the time to spend investing in my relationship with my Dad over any amount of money, but the fact is he is gone. My only opportunity to honor him with my life is to graciously accept what he has offered to me and do my best to be a good steward of my inheritance.

Thinking about this reminds me of a verse I once memorized. It says, …Now we live with great expectation, 4and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT) Our heavenly Father has a priceless inheritance for us. It is the substance in which Christians place our hope—our eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. He doesn’t owe it to us. We haven’t earned it. He has given it to us out of his love for his children and it doesn’t depend on anything we might do to deserve it. But it does depend on our willingness to receive it. If you have never thought about it, maybe it’s time to ask yourself how you feel about the inheritance that your heavenly Father has for you. Do you care about it? He certainly does, because he went as far as to send his Son, Jesus Christ, to die so that we can claim it as his rightful heirs. It is the gift of our Father’s love; who are we to refuse that gift?

Furthermore, as I relate the inheritance that I will receive from my father on this earth to the inheritance set aside for me by my heavenly Father, I am forced to evaluate whether the life I am living now shows my excitement for what I shall someday receive. I follow Christ; he has my heart, without a doubt. But am I living each day with anticipation for not only receiving my inheritance but also with enthusiasm in sharing it with others who may become children of God and so partake in it with me? Unlike with my own father, we have plenty of opportunities to honor our heavenly Father with our lives. I’m choosing to do my best to not only be delighted about my inheritance, but also to be a good steward of it, sharing it with those truly in need.

©2009 by Stephanie French. All rights reserved.