Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Leave an inheritance

A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.[Proverbs 13:22, NIV]

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. [Ecc 7:11, NIV]

The Bible has a great deal to say about leaving an inheritance. If you type the word in to a search engine in the NIV version you get literally HUNDREDS of hits on the word.

As I was doing my daily reading recently I came across the word "inheritance" and it quickened in my spirit that this word could also mean a legacy.

What will my kids have when I die financially, spiritually, emotionally? What will the world remember about me?

And how does that line up to the gifting and call that God has placed on my life.

It is hard to believe some days but God planned on us being born.

In America we will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. There is a great deal of planning that goes in to making a meal of that size. Groceries must be bought. Homes must be cleaned.

What if you made that meal and no one showed up? Or what if everyone showed up but there was no Turkey?

That is what we do to God all the time. We either don't bother to come with our gifts and talents to sit at His table of provision OR we show up but don't bring all of our gifts with us [like the Turkey] and so the plan is incomplete.

There is someone here that God sent you to reach. Maybe many people. But until we focus on God and His giftings there will be an incomplete picture.

So as you're sitting with family, whether this week or next month, consider whether you're showing up in God's family.

What you do is leaving an inheritance to your kids. You're modeling to them the kind of person you'd like them to be.

What is your legacy?

Tiffany Colter is a writer, speaker and writing career coach who works with beginner to published writers. She can be reached through her website at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
Learn more about Tiffany's Marketing techniques on her main blog.
Read Tiffany's award winning manuscript "A Face in the Shadow" on her fiction blog.

1 comment:

AngBreidenbach said...

I'm hoping to leave more than one legacy. First, I want to leave a legacy of faith in Christ Jesus to the generations that come after me.

Second, I want to leave a legacy of having used my talents intensely for the Lord. I mean intensely. I want to hear those words, "Well done Good and Faithful servant." I want to see the Lord's smile and feel his pleasure. I actually visualize that from time to time.

Third, I want to leave a legacy, to match my mother's, in brain donation for the study of schizophrenia. Because she was a severe schizophrenic, the study needs her closest first line relative to compare differences in the brain and try to understand why she had it but I don't.

Fourth, I want to leave my writing as an offering and as an inspiration to those that are living and will be left to continue living. I want to inspire faith and the desire to live out God's plan.

Thanks for this post. I really had the opportunity to clarify what drives me.

Angie