Your Estate
Your Estate
The preacher yesterday peaches on the entire chapter of Luke 15. And one word stood out to me (them). The way it reads. The father took His estate and divided it among his two sons so he had nothing left. He would have given his oldest son 2/3 of his estate and the remaining 1/3 to all his other sons, since he only had two sons the youngest got the third. The older son then turned to his father and told him to keep his share and he would work with his father to rebuild. And so that is what he and his father began to do. The argument he used to justify his anger was nullified by his father.
”But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.“
Luke 15:29, 31 HCSB
But now the younger son did not want to rebuild his father’s farm. He wanted to travel the world and find out everything that was beyond the farm. So he would have had to sell all his estate; his sheep, his cattle, his goats, his fields, and his share of the harvest that was still in the barn. I would think the older son would have bought it back for less than the going rate but maybe his dad would have paid him the going rate. So he left not with the estate but cash. He had no way to make money for he left it all back with his father and brother. All he had was his cash. He began not to build it up but to spend it! He spent it on things that did not add value to his estate but rather on temporary enjoyment. And you know the rest of the story.
Now what are you doing with your estate? You may be a high school student with very little estate and still living under your dad’s estate. Are you adding value to His estate or are you doing your best to tear it down with your enjoyment? You may be newly out of the nest and begging to find your way in the world. Are you investing in your future by building your estate or are you out running up your credit card on movies, concerts, and sporting events? You may be the father now how are you doing? Are you living paycheck to paycheck as most of the world is doing or are you finding ways to improve your estate so you can try to save back and build up some generational wealth for your kids and grandkids? I don't have the answer because I too find myself in the last statement.
”A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.“
”An inheritance gained prematurely will not be blessed ultimately.“
There is one area where we all can do better. That is to establish a savings account with God. He will never let us go bankrupt in Him as long as we are working for Him.
”Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.“
1 Corinthians 15:58 HCSB
”Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.“
Luke 16:3, 8-9 HCSB
Are you building your estate or squandering it on the enjoyment this world has to offer?
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