In the Christian world, we have many official documents on which to build the foundation of our faith. One of those is the Bible. It teaches us how to live. But we have another document. A legal document. A God inspired book. You want to know what it is? The Book of Life. This book shows us we have a life to live.
Without death, you will never become a beneficiary.
Death must happen first.
You don’t have the authority to name yourself the beneficiary. You must be chosen by the one who dies. Usually you are chosen as a beneficiary because of two things. You are loved or you are trusted or maybe both. But how is it proven that you are the beneficiary? Your name is listed on a legal document.
Then you’re allowed the authority over all the listed resources and responsibilities of the one who died. But there is a condition. Here is the condition. You must accept the inheritance.
The Book of Life guarantees life in Heaven. The Bible guarantees life on Earth.
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Jesus chose us and so he came to the cross. He named us as beneficiaries. Our names are listed in the Book of Life. That means we have an eternal life waiting for us in Heaven. So we have access to the resources of Heaven. But at the same time, we inherit the responsibilities that Jesus had on earth. We love what He loves and reject what He rejects. We love the vulnerable and we pray for the sick because that is what Jesus did. We show the way because He is the Way. We speak the truth because He is the Truth. And when someone reaches out to us, they are reaching for Jesus in us. The amazing thing about that is that God trusts us enough to do that. I’m excited about the possibilities.
You know what happens when you reject the inheritance? Because people do that. They don’t like the responsibilities that come with the inheritance. In many states, the law will view you as dead and the inheritance will be passed down to your children. If you are dead, I don’t mean physical death. I mean legal death. As in, you rejected the inheritance. You cannot be in the Book of Life. This is especially important to young people. What does this mean? Maybe your parents made mistakes and didn’t do everything right. But you will still have a choice. You still have the opportunity to get what your parents never got. To do what your family never did before. You can do it. You can choose to follow God with your whole heart. You can choose to accept your inheritance.