Don’t squander your inheritance!
One of the key themes of the parable of the prodigal son is the son’s attitude towards his inheritance. An inheritance is typically given after the death of the head of an estate, and many have seen an attitude of “I wish you were dead” in the son’s demand for his share of the inheritance while his father was still alive. Yet, as you know, the father divided up his estate between his two sons in response to the prodigal’s demands. And, as you know, this younger of the two sons sowed his wild oats in his travels as he squandered his inheritance through reckless living. The son demonstrated in the most vivid of ways that he despised his inheritance, and when his reckless life left him with nothing more than a share of what a different master’s pigs ate, he remembered that even his father’s hired servants were blessed with all they needed. And so, he repented and returned to his father in humility, confessing his sin and his unworthiness to be his father’s son, and asking to be treated as a servant instead. And as you know, the father welcomed his son back, restored him to the family, and celebrated. We learn so much from this parable. Things like our Father’s love, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, compassion, and His longing for His children. And we learn about the importance of the confession and repentance in the life of a believer that restores us to right fellowship within the family of God. But we also learn an important lesson which we rarely if ever talk about. Don’t squander your inheritance! As the father told his older disgruntled son in this parable, “all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31). As the children of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, our Father tells us the same thing in His word. He has appointed His Son Jesus as “the heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2), and He tells us that “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17). In other words, we are fellow heirs of all things with our Lord Jesus. This is our inheritance and Paul reminds the church at Corinth of this and challenges the way they’re living in light of their inheritance. Simply put, the Corinthians were squandering their inheritance. Are you?
We invite you to come join us this Sunday morning for our in-person worship service at Leptondale Bible Church in Newburgh, starting at 10:55 AM. For those unable to attend, our service can be viewed live on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/leptondalebiblechurch. This Sunday, we’ll continue a sermon series from 1st Corinthians titled “Written for Our Instruction” with a message from 1st Corinthians 3:1-23 titled “Don’t squander your inheritance!”
God bless!
Pastor Mike