Inheritance part 3
There's a lot I want to say tonight, so it might (probably will) spill into tomorrow's Rant. Which, realistically, is why I started doing my Rants in five part series. But let's quit wasting time and get into it. There's a story in the Bible about a prodigal son. One who couldn't wait for his father to die so he could have his inheritance. So his father, loving his son no matter what, went ahead and gave the inheritance. Which the son promptly (and predictably) squandered, before coming back home to daddy's house, hat in hand. What strikes me about this story is the way the son felt entilted. Like his father OWED him something. Whenever I hear that word, or that concept, I always think of two things. One, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). And two, a quote by Rocky Balboa. And, yes, it is true that I kind of base a lot of my morality and values on Rocky Balboa. I grew up on him. It all seemed (and still seems) solid. Anyway, Rocky was arguing with Paulie and Paulie was upset because now that Rocky was rich and famous Paulie felt like Rocky owed him something. Rocky said, "Nobody owes nobody nothing! You owe yourself. Friends don't owe. They do because they want to do." So those are my thoughts on obligations. If you don't want to do something--if it doesn't come from your heart--don't bother with it. And, listen, I'm not telling you "if you don't want to go to work... you don't have to.' Paul said if you don't work you don't eat. And I've found that to be pretty wise. Pretty true. I'm saying when it comes to relationships with people... do it heartily. Do it to the best of your ability because it's in your heart to do it. Or don't. Because if you're just going through the motions, doing things because you think you're "supposed" to... you aren't really doing any good for anybody. You're probably making yourself miserable, and you're not really helping them either by doing things that you don't want to be doing. Have you ever heard the phrase "made with love"? Usually in terms of cooking, right? "These might not taste the best, but I made them with love." Well, because of that they DO taste the best. Love is the secret, special ingredient. Anything done with love is done right. That's our inheritance, right? Love. The gift of God. Not something we were owed (now I'm getting to the point) but something that we were freely given. God gave us His only begotten Son--His Spirit, His life, His love, Himself--because He loves us and He wante us to have it. It wasn't a debt that was owed. It wasn't something we were entitled to, or something that we earned. It was something that He had... that He wanted us to have. Love is giving everything you have and everything you are. Love is giving. For God so loved... He gave. And because He gave, we ought to give. Not out of obligation, but because what we have--what we have been given--is so wonderful that it is a shame to keep it to oureslves. We have what everybody needs. What everybody wants. And we experience it by giving it away. By sharing it. It's not about debts and obligations and who deserves what. It's about, "I have something. Something worth sharing." God first loved us. We love Him back by loving each other. Not because we owe it to Him, but because it's our genuine pleasure to share the gift we've been given!