Selling your inheritance

I would love to say I am always financially astute. I would love to tell you that every good deal crossing my path is taken advantage of. I have missed some good deals. I wish I would have been able to see what I needed to do at the time but it didn’t work out that way. Sometimes I have missed God’s best for me. I think worse than missing a good buy is the consequence of selling the wrong thing.  

Have you ever sold something you wished you could have back? One time I purchased a portable milk machine. We fell on tight times where I thought I would never make it through without selling a few things. I put a series of things up for sale. I mis-priced a milk machine and had an instant hit. Before I knew it, I was selling the milk machine. I was happy to have the money. At the time it felt like a useless piece of property. Over the course of the next 8 years I would regret selling that machine almost every time I had to milk goats. At one point this was a daily thing.  

Can we get so caught up in greed of the feeling to have, that we are always looking at the other guy? Is there something inside us inspiring us to pass others up?  We take risks out of fear that we are missing something and are getting passed up. 

I don’t want to call this the prodigal son story. This is a child who sold his inheritance. He had so much potential and so much money. With it he had no discipline. He spent the money on whores, fancy things and instant gratification. 

Luke 15:11-24 NIV

Starting in verse 11 
“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. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

What good is an inheritance if you have it before you are ready? Have you ever received something before you were mature enough to handle it? There were a few times I made too much money and was too ignorant to be wise, but I liked instant gratification. We don’t need to give up our future for instant gratification. Esau gave it to Jacob for soup. Don’t think it can’t happen to you. I watched one of my children being unwilling to sweep the floor. She offered her sister $50 just so she didn’t have to sweep the floor. It was almost all the cash she had on hand. What was she selling?

Be content with the blessings God has given you. As I look at the work we are doing in Kenya and their conditions, it humbles me to realize how good we have it. We have clean drinking water. We aren’t living in shacks. We are blessed. 

• When the car broke down, say thank God I have a car.
• When the toilet is leaking, thank God I have plumbing. 
• When a family member is being rude, thank God I have a family. 

 
I’m not selling my future to get bailed out of a bad decision now. I’m unwilling to miss heaven for anyone for anything. I want to leave an unshakable footprint on this earth glorifying Jesus, helping others grow in Christ and have a happy life. I don’t want something before it is time.
 
“An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.”
Proverbs 20:21 NIV

Don’t give in. Don’t sell. 

“But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.”
Psalm 33:11-15 NIV

God has an inheritance just for you. He needs you to fulfill your purpose that nobody else can do. With that purpose fulfillment you get an inheritance. Mansions, streets of gold, pearly gates. It sounds pretty good to me. Although I’m just hoping for a place in the country. I like the dirt roads and find the gold to be distracting.

Regardless of it all, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt, you are needed. 

• You are somebody. 
• You are magnificent. 
• You are special. 
• God is using you.
• There is a reward for you in due time. 

​So please, please don’t sell it!