The right inheritance perspective of the Christians
“An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (Proverbs 20:21).
What is “inheritance”? According to the Internet Wikipedia inheritance is the comprehensive succession of property and status by the death of a person and the center of inheritance lies in inheritance of fortune (Wikipedia). Look at Proverbs 20:21 – “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.” The phrase “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning” probably indicates that the child had asked his father for a fortune to be passed on to him (Walvoord). A good example is the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-20. The second son said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate” (v. 12). So the father divided his property between them (v. 12). Think about how the second son felt when he received his property. Wouldn't it be nice to receive a portion of your parents' property as your inheritance little bit earlier? But what does the Bible say? The younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living (v. 13). After all, the younger son was not blessed by his inheritance (Prov. 20:21). Dr. Park Yoon-sun interpreted Proverbs 20:21 in relation to verse 20. He said that “a man curses his father or mother” (v. 20) is the man whose behavior and character is bad. Also, he said verses 20 and 21 are talking about this man who speaks against his parents and disobey them because of the property problem. He said that the people whose behavior and character is bad often conflict with their parents by forcing their rights without having to fulfill their responsibilities, mainly because of the financial problem. Ads they do so, they also use abuse and curse (Park). I think it makes sense. And I personally think that it is ugly to see children fighting over their parents' inheritance. Not long ago, I noticed that the couple of Korea's big business presidents who have a lot of wealth were fighting over their father’s inheritance. When I heard the news about that, I don’t think that was good example to others. That is why I fully agree with Proverbs 20:21. One interesting point is that verse 21 has both the word “the beginning” and “the end”. After all, when we inherit our inheritance from our parents quickly, we may feel happy at the beginning because we think that we are materially blessed. But at the end that inheritance will not be blessed. Not only that, I think that the children will dispute with each other over their parents’ inheritance and their sibling relationship will be cut off.
I read one of the articles published in the Internet Korean Newspaper that introduced fifteen rich people who refused to give their property to their children. They were referred to as ‘The rich people who refused their inheritance.’ Among those fifteen people, we are familiar with some of the names such as Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, eBay founder Pierre Omidiar, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Hong Kong Actor Jackin Chan. Their motto is that inherited wealth can ruin humans. So an important figure in oil industry Pickens said: ‘I like to make money and donate. … But I don't like to inherit my money (to my children) because it usually does more harm than good.’ A Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan said, ‘If my son is capable, he will make money on his own. If not, he will just waste my money.’ And this is what Warren Buffett said: ‘I want to give my children enough money to think that they can do something with it. But I don't want to give them so that they don’t have to do anything.’ What do you think? What do you think about inheriting your wealth to your children?
If non-believers have this kind of inheritance perspective, how about us, the believers? Shouldn’t we have the right inheritance perspective in God’s sight and not in the eyes of people? What is the right perspective of inheritance in God's eyes? What does the Bible says about the inheritance that we the children of God should have?
First, we must remember that we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
Look at Romans 8:17 – “Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Who is a heir? Isn’t it a person inheriting the property? It means a property inheritor of God's kingdom. By God’s grace, we have become heirs of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We also became heirs with Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:6). We have become property inheritors of the kingdom of God. We must keep this in mind.
Second we must be thankful for the fact that we have inherited eternal life.
Look at Matthew 19:29 – “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” As heirs of God, we have inherited eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is God's total grace. Apostle Paul said in Titus 3:7 – “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” By the grace of God we became the heirs who have the hope of eternal life. We should be grateful for this grace of God.
Third, we must seek for the glorious new body and the heavenly dwelling heirs prepared in heaven.
Look at Philippians 3:20-21: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” The day that Jesus will come again, we will be like His glorious body. And we will enter the heavenly dwellings that the Lord has prepared (Jn. 14:1-3) and live with Him forever. Therefore, we, as heirs of God, those who have eternal life, are to live on earth, longing for the body of glory and eternal heavenly dwelling which will be inherited by us in the future.
Fourth, we should value the wisdom of heavenly Father God more than inheritance from our physical parents.
Look at Proverbs 19:14 – “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.” The inheritance we receive from our parents (house or riches) is precious, but even more precious is a wise wife from God. The focus here is “wisdom” rather than wife. In other words, the inheritance we receive from God is wisdom. We should value this wisdom more than our homes or our wealth.