He slammed the hoe back into the dirt, exploding in a brown cloud all around him. Dust coated him from head to toe. His hands were calloused, and his clothes were brown and streaky from all the dirt and sweat. He paused, wiping more sweat off his brow, and glared at the large amount of land that still needed to be prepared for the planting.
His Father had decided that he and his older brother needed to work the fields themselves, not just leave it to the servants.
Whatever.
He may be the second son, but he was still an heir. His inheritance didn't include this.
"I'm so sick of this," he muttered.
"Quit your whining," shouted his older brother from his left, "Father asked us to do this. It's our duty."
"Maybe yours."
"Yours too. If you want your inheritance someday, then you need to work today."
He stopped hoeing and glared at his brother. "That inheritance is mine. I was born into it. Whether or not I work today has nothing to do with it. I don't need to waste my life trying to be the perfect son. You've already taken that role."
"Then why are you still here?"
Good point. Why was he still here?
He smiled sardonically and threw the hoe down. "Have fun." He practically ran away from his incredulous brother who was hurling insults and questions at him.
"Father!" He ran to the house. "Father, where are you?"
His father stepped out of the house to meet him. He was an older man. A hard worker who wanted to instill the same principles into his sons' lives. His brow crinkled, and his clear eyes showed concern. "What is it, my son?"
He stopped beside his father, gasping for breath. "I want.." He wheezed as his lungs tried to recover from the hard run. Oh, sweet air! "I want my inheritance now."
"Why now?"
"I've spent most of my life working for you, trying please you. But I am your son, your heir. It's time I lived like that. I want my inheritance so I can go live my life with riches and all the pleasures the world has to offer."
"I think you should wait." His father reached for him, but he stepped away. "My son, please listen to me. The world will not satisfy you."
"You can't stop me. It's mine."
His father just nodded his old, gray head. There was a sad, knowing look in his eyes. "You're right; I can't." And with that he disappeared into the house.
"Where are you going?" He shouted and started to following him. He wasn't leaving until he got his inheritance.
He found his father in the back room of the house where the family riches were kept. His father was filling a large sack with gold, more then he'd ever imagined. His father finished and tied the sack, then placed it into a traveling sack. With a mournful sigh, his father took the remaining steps towards him. "This is your inheritance. Take it. It's yours." He held the bag out to him.
He grasped the heavy bag, and nodding once at his father, turned and strode away.
He was getting out of here. It was time to use his inheritance.
Based on Luke 15:11-13
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You may not know this but today is a special day and this is a very special post. It is our one year anniversary! Actually, we decided to make it our birthday and declare that Snack Time Devotions is officially one year old today! So, for this, our 365th post, we decided to do something a little different. We decided to both write for you today. As you can see Joy (Who is way better at than I) has set the stage in the scene above for the message we would like to give as our birthday present to you!
That being said, I will get right to it, because there is a message that is burning in my spirit that I would like to share with you and it has to do with our inheritance. Yours and mine. Did you know you have one? Did you know that in order to have your inheritance all you have to do is be born? In today's culture/world we wait for someone to die before we inherit. We wait for the will to be read to see how things get divided and who gets what. Watch any detective show. Nine times out of ten the motive for whoever got murdered was all wrapped up in, who gets what.
"And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the
portion of goods that falls to me." So he divided to them his
livelihood. Luke 15:12
What made that younger son think that he could go to his father and ask for his portion? He felt like he could because he knew, he knew that from the moment he was born a portion of things was his. Why? How did he know? He knew because that is how it worked. Firstborn received a double portion and every body else got an equal portion after that. Automatic, from the minute they were born into the family. If their were 4 sons the firstborn would receive 2 fifths and the other 3 would each get a fifth. Everybody born got a portion and they didn't have to wait for someone to die before they knew that. They were raised knowing they had a portion that belonged to them. So, anyways, it seems to me that, Scripturally speaking, we don't earn our inheritance; we are born into it.
You and I from the moment we were born into the kingdom received a share in the inheritance. We too have a portion that belongs to us. There is a reason that Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is at hand." Our portion is at hand from the moment we are born into the kingdom. Jesus also said,"You have not because you ask not." Which son asked for what he knew was his to ask for and which son had to be reminded by his father, "All that I have is yours."
Too often I think that, we are like the second son who was so busy working and earning it that he forgot that it was already his. We need to remember that as a son or daughter we can walk in the power and authority of the kingdom here and now. We don't have to wait till we die to experience heaven. Like the younger son we too can go to the Father and instead of asking for the keys, to use the car, we get to ask for the Keys to the Kingdom! Don't be afraid to go to Him and say, "Father, I have a mountain to speak to today; could I have some dunamis (Power) to take care of it please."
I love that David understood. Check out all of Psalm 16 but especially verses 5 & 6. "You, O Lord, 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." He declared God to be his portion, his inheritance! That is what we would like to share with you today. That truth. That God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be your portion and that with all of heaven's blessings available to you; you would know that mountains will move!
So, today, Joy and I would like to give as our gift to you this blessing from Psalm 115:12-16
The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great.
May the Lord give you increase more and more, You and your children
May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; But the earth He has given to the children of men.
Thank you for being a part of a great first year and God Bless!
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