Coming Into Your Inheritance

Lately the season of my life that I’m in right now has caused me to consider the issue of inheritance.  At the same time, I have heard a couple of statements lately that got me wanting to sit down and systematize some thoughts that I’ve had recently about this issue, albeit in a slightly larger context.

The first statement was from someone in “retirement”, and went something like this:  “I think I’ve earned the right to do things for myself that I want to.”

The other was from someone who was responding to a conversation about the retirement of someone in their social group:  “We’re going to be working the rest of our lives.”  The clear implication is that this is a bad thing, of course. 

I don’t dispute the legitimacy of the first statement in any sense.  This person certainly had “earned” the lifestyle they were enjoying, and I do not begrudge it in any way. 

Likewise, I can understand completely the frustration implicit in the second statement.  We all look forward to the end of our vocation and being able to “rest from our labors”, as it were. 

At the same time, it seems to me there is an underlying assumption in these statements, common among Christian and non-Christian alike, to wit: we won’t get another shot at this life, so we’d better make it as good as we can. For the non-Christian, this is because there isn’t anything on the other side, or we at least don’t know what it is.  For the Christian, it is because we leave this place to go to “Heaven” and live out some sort of spiritualized existence, never to return.  We still have life of a sorts, but it is of an entirely different nature, and in any event it is only our souls that survive. 

If we were to check in with the one who actually set all this up, however, we would find the realty to be quite different from both of these.  In the Scripture we discover that a physical existence on earth was always God’s intent and remains so.  Heaven is merely a way-station: a resting place, as it were, while we await the resurrection; after which we reign with Christ forever in a new heavens and new earth with bodies incorruptible.  It is not the intent of this article to make this case, but it really shouldn’t have to be, as the bible is crystal clear on this issue.  1 Corinthians 15 would be a good place to start with your own study, but this understanding suffuses all of the Word. 

My point is that this is not, as it may seem, some abstract philosophical speculation about the nature of eternity.  It actually makes a profound and practical impact on how we live, which brings me back to the issue of inheritance.  If we will be coming into that eternal inheritance at the resurrection, then we do not have to “get it while we can” in this life.  Paul has a very practical application in this regard which he offers to 1^st century slaves in Colosse, people who were going to have to work their entire lives and get nothing from it:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.   (Col. 3:22-24)

This suggests to me an attitude that is quite upside-down from the norm.  Perhaps instead of working toward retirement where we can do as little as possible and as much for ourselves as we can while we still have a chance in this world, we should consider every day we live an opportunity to do something productive.  Because every day we do so, even if it is digging ditches for Roman slave masters, is a day when our inheritance in eternity increases.

What I wonder is this:  If the person who was going to have to work their whole lives would have in any way had the same goals as the first person for their retirement, then perhaps you could view the situation as a gift from God, in a way.  They might miss out on some opportunities to “do for themselves things that they want to,” but every day they work is a day that the value of their real inheritance is increased.  And yes, this world will still be around and we will still live in it to enjoy it.  On the other hand,  the person who is enjoying what they earned while here certainly has that option, but every day they live for themselves rather than serving God and other people is a day that compromises the value of their real inheritance. 

This reminds us of the other great misunderstanding that Christians have managed to achieve, which is that everyone’s experience in eternity (their “inheritance”) will be the same, because we’re all saved by grace.  Like the resurrection, the Scripture passages that militate against this notion are too numerous to review here.  Suffice it to say, every day we live is an opportunity for us to accomplish something, as God gives us the strength (subject, of course, to the Sabbath rhythms that ensure a proper amount of rest and relaxation).  I don’t think that we need begrudge a single day that we are required to work in our vocation by our circumstances, or choose to work at our volunteer avocation because we can.  Not only will we not be missing out on a chance to enjoy this world, we will be increasing our capacity to do so when that world is redeemed.