Heritage

Many people put a lot of stock in heritage, thinking it says something about the individual.  If one's ancestors fought in the American Revolution, that makes them somehow more American.  If your grandparents marched in the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King, that makes you a civil rights activist.  If your parents helped lay the bricks for the church building, that makes you a stalwart member of the church.

Really?  No, not really!  The truth of the matter is that while your ancestors provide you a heritage upon which to build, that heritage does not automatically transfer to you.  You may benefit from it, using it as a springboard to help propel you to greater heights, but does not work its way into your being or simply show up in your DNA.

When the Lord warned Ezekiel of the Israelites' Judgment, he warned, "even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness" (14:20).  The good, or the evil, our parents have done is certainly a foundation upon which we can build our own character but it is not something that can be handed down like an inheritance.

Later in Ezekiel's writing, he makes this abundantly clear in saying, "The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them" (18:20).

If we can legitimately say, "My ancestors helped settle this land" or "my grandparents helped establish this church" or "my parents helped build this senior center;" none of that has anything to do with you.  You have to leave your own footprints, you have to make your own contribution, you have to pass on your own legacy from which the next generation can benefit but not claim as their own.

The point is that we are each responsible for our individual lives.  We cannot rest upon what was accomplished in the past but must instead build upon it, reject it or just ignore it.  Whatever we are to do is not directly tied to our heritage, it may be influenced by it and even enriched by it, but not determined by it.  We must choose.

Do you recall the words of Joshua after the death of Moses?  Moses afforded Israel a great heritage, his legacy was off the chart, but Joshua words were not, "We have Moses as our heritage!"  Instead he challenged the people, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Josh 24:15).  Heritage or no, the choice is yours.  What do you choose to do with you life?  Jus' Ask'n.