Don’t let your spiritual inheritance pass away when you pass on!

King David was about to be ‘gathered to his fathers’ … in other words, was at the end of his life. As he prepares to pass the mantle to his son Solomon, he gives his parting words:

“I’m about to go the way of all the earth, but you—be strong; show what you’re made of!

Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely,

keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses;

 then you’ll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go. Then God will confirm

what he promised me when he said, ‘If your sons watch their step, staying true to my heart

and soul, you’ll always have a successor on Israel’s throne.’”

I Kings 2:2-4 The Message

 There are the usual words a father wants to say … be strong, show your stuff!

But then he gets into the complex arena of transferring his faith, making sure legacy is handed off successfully and making absolutely sure that the foundation for the next generation is firmly in place and followed.

As much as we would like it, we can’t live our successful lives through anyone else. Nor can we bestow that success automatically into someone else. And we cannot be assured that our unsuccessful lives won’t be repeated in those who follow us. It’s a three-way partnership in these verses between God, David and Solomon. God gave David promises regarding his son but Solomon needed to activate those promises by his personal obedience to God.

The effect of David’s life did not need to come to a close as his life did. God has always wanted his work and plan to be carried on from one generation to another. God did his part, David his and then Solomon had to make the decision to keep the legacy alive.

In 2004 I received something special from my Dad. As he lay dying from a massive stroke, he came out of a coma and with his one arm still working, reached it to my shoulder to give me his final blessing.

There is nothing better than to receive a Godly legacy and then have the desire and determination not to waste it.

May God allow each of us to pass our faith along.