The Inheritance That Matters
Posted on Friday, August 31, 2012 by
My Dad died last month. He was 88 years old.
They say that, eventually, you become your father. You inherit beliefs and ways of doing things. Sometimes you pick up his defects and his faults. There is no question that your father has a profound impact on you.
My Dad's impact on me was profoundly good, and I'm proud to be his son. He raised me "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." As far back as I can remember, my Dad prayed with me, memorized scripture with me and lived out what it means to be a Christian man in front of me. He wasn't perfect, but I don't know where I would be today without his sacrificial love and godly parenting.
I recently learned how great that impact was as I read through a testimony of his that he had written in the late 1940's. It was a story I suppose I have always known at some deep level but had never really heard before. He was raised by a devout Christian mother and an alcoholic father. He fought in World War II on the front lines in Germany and after the war, he gave his life to the Lord. In his testimony he said, "I even told the Lord that I would go into ministry if he wanted me too." However, he didn't think that would ever happen because he was so unqualified.
My Dad did go into ministry both as a volunteer youth worker and Sunday School superintendant as well as a full time and part time pastor. He also taught school for years which was also ministry to him. He was deeply committed to reaching people for Jesus Christ. It dawned on me that along with all the things I inherited from my Dad, a big one was a desire to see young people come to salvation through Jesus!
Every day we see kids who have inherited "stuff" from their parents; most of it negative. Fewer and fewer kids are growing up in a Christian home. Many have never heard the story of Jesus. Their parents are physically and/or emotionally missing from their lives. Left to fend for themselves, they desperately try the empty "solutions" the world has to offer. And we find them on school campuses and in juvenile institutions desperate, lost and alone.
All of us have the opportunity to become spiritual fathers or mothers to lost kids. A loving Christian adult in relationship with a kid has an incredible impact on that young person's life! Maybe you think you're not qualified like my Dad did. You are wrong about that! Ask God today. Tell Him you'll, "even go into ministry if he wants you to." Volunteer or full time, He will use you to change a life.
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What have you inherited? What will lost kids inherit from you?