Baptist City Blog

Keep It in the Family

Numbers 27:7

"The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them."

The inheritance was very important to the children of Israel. It was not just parents leaving their money to their children, but it was the parents leaving the portion of land that God gave to them. This inheritance represented how they served God. It would be a big thing for a family to lose their inheritance.

The daughters of Zelophehad had a problem in that their father died in the wilderness without having any sons to whom he could pass the inheritance. These five daughters came to Moses and asked him if there was a way that they could keep the inheritance of their father. When Moses asked God, He told him that they were to receive their father's inheritance. God went further into the subject of the inheritance and told Moses that they were to keep the inheritance in their family. If a family had an inheritance in Israel, then that family had the responsibility to make sure that it would not be lost.

When you got saved, you received a spiritual inheritance. That inheritance is not only salvation, but it is also how the Scriptures teach us to serve God. It is the responsibility of the family to make sure every generation carries on this inheritance. The inheritance that God gave is not something we should be passive about, but it is something that we should protect with our lives. Let me give you three thoughts about our spiritual inheritance.

First, it is the responsibility of every parent to pass their spiritual inheritance down to their children. Parents, you should not treat what you believe lightly, but you should realize that it is your responsibility to teach your children what they should believe and how they should serve God. It is not the responsibility of the pastor, youth pastor, Christian school teacher or Sunday school teacher to train your children in what they should believe and how they should serve God. It is the responsibility of the parent. Too many parents are absent in training their children in these areas. Too many parents want to let the church ministries teach this when it is the parent's responsibility to teach their children what they believe and how to serve God.

Second, every child has a responsibility to carry on to the next generation what they have been taught. If your parents have trained you right, then you are responsible to make sure that you live what you have been taught. You have no right to let your spiritual inheritance slip away because you want to live in the world. You are privileged to have parents who taught you right, and with privilege comes responsibility. Don't squander the spiritual inheritance that your parents left you for worldly pleasures.

Third, every spiritual organization has a responsibility to support the family as they pass on their spiritual inheritance. The responsibility of the church and school is not to usurp the parent's authority, but it is their responsibility to reinforce what the parents are training their children. That means these organizations have no right to go liberal. When you compromise your stand on the old-time religion, then you are attacking the family's spiritual inheritance. A church and Christian school needs to constantly make sure that their stance on doctrine is what the Scriptures teach.

If the parents, children and spiritual organizations will do their part with the spiritual inheritance, then we can influence a nation for Christ. If one of these compromises their spiritual inheritance, then the nation in which we live will be destroyed. Be sure that you do your part in keeping your spiritual inheritance.