Sound of Surviving Blog

One of the things I think we often forget as Christians, funnily enough, is the breadth of our inheritance. As children of God, we often forget that Heaven belongs to us. It is our eternal home. “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5). So, if Heaven is our inheritance, and our home, shouldn’t we be inviting others into it? With the same love and hospitality, we have here in our earthly homes? Because God isn’t giving us a house only, we can live in, but one big enough for all of our friends and family, too.

We should take pride in our home, in Heaven, and in Christ. We should be so proud to call ourselves children of God. But yet, the world tells us that we’re not allowed to discuss it, or share God with others, and we listen. We become silent. We stop sharing our faith in Christ and our love for God with the world. We tell ourselves it’s not our place.

But the Bible isn’t just advice we can choose to follow or ignore; it’s an instruction manual for how we are to live. In Matthew 5:16, we are told to spread God’s light on earth: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” We are called to show others his love, so that they to, may come to the inheritance that he has waiting for them. The greatest impact we can ever make on others isn’t a good impression of ourselves; it’s making a good impression for Christ. That others would see him in us, and want to know him too. We are called to show God’s love and goodness to others, to be “fishers of men”.

Our inheritance to Heaven doesn’t depend on the goodness that we do here on earth; we just have to open the door to our hearts and let Jesus Christ into our hearts and our lives. (Revelation 3:20). Once we open our lives to Christ, we are called to exemplify him, and to embody him in all that we do. We are called to lift one another up, and carry each other’s burdens, to live in such a way that others can’t help but wonder why we light up the way we do.

By not telling others about God, and not living our lives in such a way that others see him in us, we are robbing them of a wonderful and powerful inheritance, not just in Heaven, but here on earth. People’s confidence and whole personality change when they realize that the King of the universe, died for them, and loves them. It causes a chain effect, and suddenly, others are seeing God’s light shining through them, and that’s how we get the whole world on fire for God, and reclaiming their inheritance, and their eternity.