Does Anyone Want Grandma’s China?

I have my mother’s and my grandmother’s china. I have grandpa’s military medals, as well.

Four generations of family mementos and history are in my cedar chest, including the wedding dresses of my mother, my grandma Lizzie, and mine. Grandpa’s metals are in an old box.

These treasures from my family’s past says I have roots. I come from a small family. I envy large families with family photos on the walls and generations of stories to tell. I grew up with no cousins nearby and only Grandma Lizzie close enough to visit. I adored her.

Grandma was poor and orphaned but she was the sweetest person. Everything I have of hers is precious to me, but my children never met her. They have no emotional ties to her. They have almost no ties to my family at all. My father died when my oldest son was six and my youngest was two. They have little memory of him.

I have held on to the few tokens of remembrance I have. But no matter how much I love my keepsakes, none of it loves me back.

An Inheritance for Your Children’s Children

Scripture says, “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22). It is easy to use this verse as the basis for leaving large financial resources to our children. But in the Old Testament, inheritance usually meant land, not money or material things. Land was the means of growing crops and herds, which fed, housed, and clothed the family. Land meant physical security for multiple generations who lived on and off the land. Most of us in Western culture don’t depend on land ownership for a direct supply of our food, clothing and shelter.

So what kind of inheritance should we leave to our children and our children’s children? Jesus made it clear in Matthew 6:19-21 that collections and money are not the answer. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (NIV)

Knowledge & Love of God

The most valuable inheritance to leave our children is the knowledge and love of God, an estate that moth, rust, or thieves cannot destroy. It lasts from one generation to another.

I remember every room of my grandmother’s home. I treasure this memory, but the most essential inheritance I received from her was her strong and consistent faith. Her faith became my faith; no one can take this away from me. Proverbs 10:7a says, “The memory of the righteous is blessed,”

I am trying to grow into the attitude “Who cares who gets the china?” As long as my children and their children know and love Jesus my heart’s desire will be satisfied even if that is the only inheritance I leave. My china will never love my children, but Jesus already does. His love never fails. Grandpa’s military medals cannot protect my children, but Jesus does. Faith in Jesus cannot be destroyed or stolen. It can, and I pray, will multiply for generations to come.

What inheritance will you leave your family?

Personal Parables Practices

Do you have a treasure chest of possessions you are holding on to?
Has your family ever commented on the impact of your faith?
What one step can you take today to leave a spiritual legacy?

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the sweet memories that are stored in the many physical treasures I have. But please, never let me value these keepsakes over my faith which is the only inheritance worth leaving to my family. The true gift I want to leave my family is the memory of a life lived for you. I pray that my children will be drawn to you and their children will seek and serve you for generations to come. Amen.

Scripture for Meditation

1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV) – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.