Have you ever received an inheritance? it may not have been large amounts of money. Perhaps it was a piece of jewelry or some article that had belonged to your loved one. Did you save it and pack it away because you felt it was too special to use? Do you use it every day? Whatever it was you may have received, what made it meaningful to you? I would guess that the item itself, even if it was cash, wasn’t what meant the most to you. It was most likely the memory of the loved one and the relationship you had with them that made the legacy valuable.
My grandmother passed away when I was a girl, but my grandfather remarried and Grandma Rose became my grandmother as well. She outlived my grandfather and was the great-grandmother my children knew. Tom and I felt it was important to make time to spend with her and she became a beloved part of our family. Rose had known my grandmother well and items that had belonged to her were still a part of Grandma Rose’s household. Several years ago Grandma Rose passed away and my father and his siblings had the task of collecting the items that had belonged to their mother and selling Grandma Rose’s home, which had belonged to their parents. At the sale of the house my dad shared some of that inheritance with his children and grandchildren. We all stood around a table as he explained. The gift was a surprise to us all, so any amount was welcome. It was exciting! Receiving a part of someone’s legacy was a new experience that we celebrated.
But, in addition to that sum, I received something far more valuable than a legacy check. As the oldest granddaughter it was decided that I should receive my grandmother’s china. I had some vague memories of that china, but it didn’t matter whether or not I remembered the china. I remember my grandmother and having something that belonged to her is a precious gift. When I brought the boxes that contained the china home to my small house, I realized that I had nowhere to store it. The china boxes waited for months, hidden behind my sectional couch, until I was able to purchase a special piece of furniture for it as part of renovating my dining room. Once that whole project was complete I delighted to invite my parents over for dinner and celebrate by using Grandma’s china. It’s a cherished memory.
I don’t use Grandma’s china often. It is pretty enough and delicate enough that I save it for special occasions, but our current home has a built-in hutch with glass doors and I see Grandma’s china every day. It makes me smile to see it and reminds me of both my grandmother and Grandma Rose. The relationships connected to the china are what make it a special treasure.
As a child of God, you have an inheritance waiting for you in heaven that is far greater than any earthly treasure. The riches and wonders of our heavenly home are beyond our finite imaginations. But you can taste that glorious inheritance every day. Salvation through Jesus Christ opened the door to the richness of a relationship with your Heavenly Father. My little china legacy helps me connect with relationships of loved ones who have passed. But believers in Jesus Christ have been given the Holy Spirit to connect us with a relationship that is future. We have been given the Holy Spirit so that we can be aware of Our Father’s presence. The Holy Spirit makes us able to begin to experience that relationship with our Father now. He makes us aware of God at work in our lives while we live on earth. But not only that, The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that every promise of God is true and the down payment, the earnest, the taste of all that is to come. He helps us begin to taste our heavenly inheritance now! One aspect of your heavenly treasure is your ongoing, deepening relationship with God. That relationship is the greatest treasure that you possess and when the day comes and you go to heaven you will be with Him forever and taste the fullness of that relationship and all the love that He has stored up for you. We belong to God, but all that He is belongs to us. That’s an inheritance worth waiting for!
Key Thought: The Holy Spirit gives us a taste our heavenly inheritance.
A Scripture to Consider:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
A YES Challenge: Take a few moments and consider the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Are you aware of Him? How do you experience your relationship with God now? How are you developing that relationship? What do you look forward to in heaven?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the Holy Spirit. I am so grateful that I can begin to taste my heavenly inheritance now! Help me to appreciate His work in me. Help me to value the way He helps me to build my relationship with You so that I can taste some of my heavenly inheritance. I love You, Lord and I look forward to enjoying You forever! Amen!