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“To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,” 1 Peter 1:4.

 

A man worked his entire life and during that life accumulated much wealth. The man’s life reflected how great a businessman he was and what a wonderful father and husband he had been. He helped many people along life’s way as he advanced up the ladder of success. Sometime during that climb and accumulation of wealth he devised a plan to distribute his wealth to his children. His wife died as a young woman when their youngest child was twelve years old. The man never remarried but remained devoted to his wife and sweetheart of his youth. He finished raising his children on his own. He sent them all to college, and after college they each went their own separate ways pursuing their own personal dreams and ambitions. The day finally came that God took their father home. After the funeral all his children met with the lawyer who had handled their father’s affairs for years. They sat around a large mahogany table in one of the many conference rooms at his office building awaiting the reading of their father’s last will and testament.

 

The lawyer began to read the will, first describing in complete detail their father’s estate, all his holdings, then laying out what the parameters were for each of the children to inherit their full and fair share of their father’s extensive and awesome empire. Their father’s holdings were vast indeed; much of the wealth of the estate was in property, literally millions of pristine acres, huge forests and miles of beach front properties. Of course there was also their father’s corporation which was a formative fortune 500 entity. The corporation itself also had a very impressive amount of holdings. Among other things this vast amalgamation of holdings consisted primarily of huge high rise buildings in some of the greatest and wealthiest cities on earth. The father’s corporation was an umbrella for many smaller corporations all of which held vast amounts of liquidity. The lawyer continued with the value of the holdings and the children were astonished. They had no idea their father’s empire was so vast. He never let on just how huge his business had grown over the years. He was always there for the children as they were growing up and through good times and bad he never failed his children; he was always the loving father.

 

The children themselves went through times of rebellion as most children do. Their father loved them and never gave up on them no matter how rebellious they became. As they grew up they grew out of that adolescent stage and into other stages of rebellious attitudes. Even now as adults, well into middle age, they still didn’t fully realize just how hard it had been on their father while they were growing up as he was trying to raise them and care for them and love them all the while continuing to direct the daily affairs of his corporation. He never complained to them or anyone else but continued steadfast in his duty to them.

 

Their father’s lawyer finally reached the last page of his will. A figure was given as to the total wealth of all his holdings. It was broken down and divided by the number of children he had. Not one of the children was to inherit more than another. They were to receive equal amounts of the divided empire. After all, their father loved them equally never showing favoritism one over another. They grew up with equal amounts of his love and each of their material needs were, from the beginning of their lives, always fulfilled exactly the same as their siblings. The opportunities that were afforded them were also equally handed to them as they reached different ages. The children themselves never had anything to contend about when it came to their fathers love or when it came to their needs.

 

The children did argue though. Now and then one would feel unloved or less loved than another and ultimately arguments would ensue. This type of bickering went on during all the years of their youth and even spilled over into their adult lives. These selfish attitudes hurt their father deeply. He would always interject some great wisdom and do everything he could to dispel their misconceptions and their fears.  

 

Now as adults, having been given everything their father could give to mold and develop their mental attitudes and outlooks towards the world and each other. Each of his children knew, because of their father’s great love for them, how they should’ve shown the same love for each other, especially at this almost historic meeting. But there was dissention in the ranks. The oldest brother, being the eldest son, protested that he should receive the lion’s share of their late father’s holdings, and the daughters bickered over what had belonged to their mother, things that their mother held dear they both wanted and were quite willing to fight over. The youngest son was completely willing to adhere to his father’s final wishes for he loved his father more than anything else and wanted so much to honor him now even in death as only he had done while his father was alive.

 

The father made one stipulation to the inheritance and that was that each individual child would need to say yes to his one final request. It was simple and easy, and involved no works on the part of the children, none at all. Just say yes to their father’s final decision on the distribution of wealth. Any and all of the children that said yes were to immediately receive their assigned inheritance. The children’s father put a special clause in his will that stated, “My children’s inheritance can never be taken away, it is theirs forever”. That’s the security given by the father that no one or nothing can take away. On the other hand, if his children would not say yes to their father’s will and if they decided to contest his last will and testament believing there to be many other ways the inheritance could be divided and distributed, they would not be allowed to partake in the inheritance at all.

 

The youngest son was completely in his father’s will, simply by saying yes to his father. But the others continued to bicker and argue over petty things, such as the stipulations were too easy, there weren’t enough restrictions involved. They believed each child needed to prove him or herself before becoming worthy to inherit any part of their father’s empire. Those children who missed out on the inheritance of their father have passed that same bickering attitude on to their children and what has happened to the descendants of that wonderful father is they have missed out on a most excellent blessing and tremendous inheritance because they just won’t believe in the way the father set it up.

 

That father’s life story ends on a somewhat depressing note, most of the children were too self willed, self absorbed, self reliant, and to consumed by popular lies to enter into the ease of their father’s final pleasure. They never came to an understanding of just who their father really was and how much he loved each of them. They were blind to the simple truth.

 

The father of this story is fictional, but his love for his children is an allegory of God the Father’s love for us. Everyone can enjoy an equal portion of the inheritance if they will only believe in the way God set up the Kingdom. Our Father sent His only begotten Son to become the only way of entering His Kingdom. All the bickering about all the different paths and works involved to reach that kingdom are folly. Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father but by Him. None of His rebellious children shall enter into His rest unless they accept His final request.

 

This is God’s truth and it’s simple to understand and to follow. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” Romans 10:9, 10.

 

Why? Again, simply put, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” John 3:16.

 

Honestly people, could God have made it any simpler? Absolutely not! The people came to Jesus and asked him, “…What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent,” John 6:28, 29. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Jesus to make it known that not only belief but works gets you into Heaven. But He didn’t because there are no works involved in our salvation.

 

Just like the fictional father above and how he made it simple for his children to inherit his vast kingdom; God devised an effortless way for all of us to inherit His.

 

“Believe on Him whom He has sent” Just in case you still don’t get it, the One He sent is Jesus Christ.

 

God bless you all,

 

Ron Graham

 

 

  

 

Email:  twotug@embarqmail.com