And the LORD said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. -- Numbers 18:20
This has always been the hardest thing for me. I am fine with mysticism until breakfast. Work has to be done. People have to be fed. I'll do my praying before I go to bed. Living "by faith" can look a lot like laziness, indolence, and indifference. I believe that I have to be responsible, sensible and practical. I love the word "canny". I'm going to write up my obituary one of these days, and I'm going to put that in it: he was a canny old hillbilly. In fact, that may be my entire obituary right there.
Most of us, when we get on in years, start thinking about the kind of inheritance we will leave to our children and grandchildren. I am sorry that my generation has done such a lousy job preserving the culture and liberty that we enjoyed growing up. There is not much I can do for the nation as a whole, but I will try to pass on the values and the traditions that marked the America I remember.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD (Psalms 102:18). I want the grandkids to know that our hope and strength is in Christ alone and not in material possessions or government programs, that safety and security and prosperity are never to be bought at the price of liberty, and that, nevertheless, we can live free anywhere under any conditions if we choose to abide in Him.
I will try to build an inheritance of something other than a few notes drawn on the Federal Reserve. I hope to leave behind some things of genuine material value, like a place out of the wind and rain, space to raise a cow or two, some fruit trees and vines, dirt that will grow corn and beans and potatoes, maybe a little silver and gold, and .22 ammunition. Books. Lots of knives.
I have no way of knowing, though, what tomorrow will bring. I may lose every tangible possession that I have. The one thing that I can't lose is the Truth. Far more important than passing on houses or lands, gold or guns to the generations to come is passing on our "portion" in the Lord. What is our hearts is what we need to make sure is given to those who will follow us, and the best way to do that is to invest it now in those that are around us. The more of Christ we give away, the more we have to give and the more there will be for those "yet to be created".
I cannot change my pragmatic nature, but I can take time each day to turn away from the demands of my physical existence, to look to the Lord, and to acknowledge Him as the One to whom I belong and as the Pearl of Great Price -- my only true possession. All other things will slip from my grasp, will elude me in the end, as sand, as dust, as the wind that blows where it will. Treasure in heaven is eternal and sure.
10 comments:
Amen to all of that.
...being old and full of days.
Well done, Mush.
Thanks.
Been thinking lately on that. My being a failure, so far, for my kids and having them turn to Christ. I pray for their salvation but that is one thing (maybe THE ONE THING) God will not force on his children. So the task is on us to spread the message. Maybe I can do it through example because I just can't seem to properly communicate the Truth verbally.
But we ain't dead yet. So there's always hope.
There really is. I prayed for years for someone, all the while assuming he'd never turn to religion. Hadn't been raised in it, we didn't talk about it (except every now and then, when he seemed quite strongly opposed), etc. To my surprise and eternal gratitude, now he's Catholic and quite serious about it.
God is funny. Keep on praying, your kids may well surprise you.
This is true. I'm sure that my mother thought at times that I was a completely lost cause.
Thanks guys. julie, I'm very happy to hear that.
Example is always good (and needed, I think), but someone's missing piece may be provided by someone else entirely. In my case, I wasn't "struck" until 41. N one I knew at the time played a part in that. Maybe someone was praying.
Until then, then intellect was my stumbling block. It wasn't until I came across someone else who took it seriously (in the intellect way that I wasn't) that I started to. I had no idea what I was missing actually existed.
With my 21 y/o son, I probably would do more harm than good if at this point I tried to do more than set an example. He's bright and receptive and sees his father takes the subject quite seriously. Always sees me reading and adding to the bookshelf.
So, he'll have to weight in the balance what he hears out in the world about it, with what he sees his father doing.
Yes, agree completely; that's essentially how it went for me, too, especially the intellect part.
My son is 21. I think sometimes that little light is like a seed that sleeps and dreams. I and the wife just will not coerce, betray, lie, cheat or steal to protect that. We are landless peasants, but we will probably someday be the peaceable kingdom he remembers long after.
We made it this far on Grace. Very practical. When we are no longer from around here, that hopefully will not be such a shock.
Just to take nothing, and give everything. Very practical, in the long run. Pilgrims.
I was very worried about our oldest daughter for awhile, because after she left home she got into that Wiccan stuff.
Now she's going to church on Sunday and Wednesday and going to Bible studies, thank God. :)
It's kinda funny, because our granddaughter started going to church a few years ago with some of her friends. So, along with prayers that may have played a role as well.
I'll definitely keep your kids in my prayers, John.
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