Spiritual Inheritance

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them." Luke 15:11-12

All of us, at some time in our lives, will receive an inheritance from grandparents, parents or close relatives. History tells us that inheritances can be used wisely, squandered or in some cases left unused due to ignorance or lack of understanding. Inheritances can be tangible (eg property, cash, shares etc) or in some cases they can be intangible. For example, our parents may have been poor but they imparted to us strong character traits. These could include a strong work ethic or the need to help those less fortunate. These traits, in many situations, will be more valuable than tangible ones.

We see the different misuse of our inheritances in the passage quoted. So often we focus on the younger son who in a very obvious way squandered his entire inheritance on reckless living. However, when we look at that verse, we see that the Father divided the property between both of them. As was the ancient custom, the older brother received twice the amount than his younger brother.

The older brother also misused his inheritance through lack of understanding of what he actually possessed. His complaint at the end of the story of that he worked for little reward was met with surprise by the father who assured him that all that he had was his sons. The older brother had never walked in his inheritance through ignorance and lack of knowledge.

We have all been given a spiritual inheritance, how do we use it?