The Glorious Inheritance

“We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.” – Colossians 1:9-11

 My prayer for you today is that you would “share in the saint’s inheritance in the light.” I once heard a story about a young man living in squalor in the city. He washed dishes in a local restaurant to eke out enough money to pay rent, and sometimes he was hungry enough to eat the scraps of food leftover on dishes he was cleaning. He dreamed of going to school to study architecture, but the only architecture he ever saw was the underside of the grand, old building in which the restaurant was housed. Every week he would get mail with bills and credit card offers, and every week he would dodge calls from collectors trying to get something from him for the past due credit cards he already had. It was a dismal, bleak existence.

One day, a man in a suit showed up at the restaurant asking for him. Assuming it was a collector, he attempted to run, but the restaurant manager cornered him, and he had to face his pursuer. The man in the suit said, “I have been looking for you for over a year. I have called and written, and now I’ve come in person. You are the only surviving heir of your great uncle. His entire estate is yours! Why have you been hiding from me?”

Without knowing it, the young man who had lived in squalor possessed more wealth than he could even imagine!

I wonder how many Christians are like that young man? Living impoverished lives without joy, peace, hope, or love, all while they possess a glorious inheritance. They fret and quibble over houses and cars and bank accounts, while a mansion and glory and incomprehensible treasure awaits them. We are “co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17)! Let us not confuse any status or security that comes from wealth in this life with the glorious inheritance that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.