Inheritance

Psalm 16:5-6

"O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance."

The concept of inheritance has been on my mind recently, mostly in terms of, "I wish some long lost cousin would die with no heirs and leave their millions to me." (I know no one else out there has ever thought along those lines, but...) I suppose the whole things started a few months ago when I was poking around in a courthouse in Texas and discovered a will which showed that my family line had been disinherited. What a shock that was to my little system! When I shared my findings with my mom, she told me she wasn't surprised at all, but that my inheritance wasn't being part of that family anymore anyway. We belong to a new family now, adopted into the family of God, grafted into His tree and His vine, now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist writes with the knowledge that his true share in the Kingdom is God Himself. God is the source of that which we will receive later, and also the source of that which we have now. Whatever I hold in my cup is part of my provision from the Lord. And it is God who will protect, defend, and maintain that which has been given to me! My inheritance has been surveyed and apportioned to me, and it is a share in the best that God has to offer me. The lines have measured out what is coming to me, and it is good indeed!

As part of the family of God, the blessings we receive in this life are direct results of the relationship we have with the Father. They are foretastes of future glory, glimpses of the inheritance incorruptible that awaits us in eternity. Our inheritance is a mansion prepared for us by Christ, treasures laid up for us there, crowns for righteousness and diligence in this life, and a place in the eternal Kingdom of God because of our service to Him here. What a blessing! What a promise! What a glorious expectation! I get to have my cake and eat it too, because I am blessed in this life and in the one to come!