By Emmett Smith

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous." (Prov. 13:22, ESV)

For those who have been blessed with enough material wealth to survive them in this world, estate planning is a wise decision. As stewards who will answer to God for how we've used these blessings, it behooves us to plan for several eventualities.

• Minimizing losses to the state.
• Maximizing glory to God.
• Blessing our children.

Others would undoubtedly choose different options or priorities. But surely we would agree that a Christian steward could make better decisions than an increasingly secular state. Likewise, if one supported various worthy Christian activities during life, bequests continuing that support might well be in order. And of course, the above text from Proverbs certainly supports bequests to our children and grandchildren. But that presupposes that we have had the wisdom to bequeath a spiritual heritage as well.

Many parents will pay consultants to help them plan their estate to ensure that they pass on the maximum benefit possible to their heirs. Hopefully, they will show the same foresight in ensuring that their children become faithful Christians. After all, as Solomon said, the sinner’s inheritance will be enjoyed by the righteous!

"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish'" (Lk. 16:25, ESV).

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mk. 8:36, KJV).

By Michael E. Brooks

"Therefore I beseech first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men" (1 Tim. 2:1)

"I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (Jn. 9:4).

Last week I called Brenda, my wife, from Bangladesh. We have long since decided to limit calls to only a few per trip, but to make each call satisfyingly long. Our telephone system in Bangladesh limits calls to a maximum of thirty minutes, but it is not uncommon for service to be interrupted and for callers to be cut off unexpectedly. Since we do not usually keep exact time, we are never quite sure just how much time we will have to talk, or when the call will end. If we have not completed necessary business, of course, we can always call again, but if the call has lasted for several minutes we usually do not.

On this most recent call, after a few minutes Brenda mentioned that we might get cut off soon so she had certain "important" things to say, such as how much she missed me, etc. This simple, everyday expedient caused us to relate the same principle to spiritual things and realize how often we fail to practice spiritually what we do automatically in much less important arenas. That is simply to make sure that we do the most important things first, while we know we have the opportunity. The other, expendable matters can wait until later, and if they don’t get done at all there is little or no real loss. On the other hand, if we do them first and fail to "get to" the essentials there is great, irredeemable loss.

The Bible acknowledges certain essential priorities. These include communication with God (1 Tim. 1:1), "justice, mercy, and faith" (Matt. 23:23), love of God and man (Matt. 22:37-39), "working the works of God" (Jn. 9:4) and obedience to the Gospel of Christ (2 Thess. 1:8). These we must do, or fail to enter the eternal Kingdom of God. Life is uncertain. We do not know how long we will be on this earth. Procrastination is tempting, but may cause loss of our souls eternally. We can continue to apply this principle to good works such as helping others, preaching the Gospel and all other types of service to God. These are so much more important than the self-serving material things we tend to spend all our time on, reasoning that eternal things can be taken care of later. There may not be a later. We may be cut off at any time. Let us do and say the important things now, while there is time.

by Greg Tidwell

"Cheshire Cat," asked Alice, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don"t much care where." said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

The Cheshire Cat had a point. All paths are meaningless if you have no place to go. This basic observation highlights the difference between the Christian way of life and the way pursued by the secular world. God's people are following a different path because they seek a different destination.

Too often, however, we discuss the differences between the Lord's church and the world in terms of the paths chosen rather than in terms of the destination desired. Looking merely at the path, most will choose to go the way of the world. The secular path is broad and easy. The way of the Lord, in contrast, is narrow and challenging. Looking merely at the path, the broad and easy way seems very appealing. Of course, the problem with the easy way is that it ends in destruction (Matt. 7:13,14).

In the Lord's church we must stay focused on the destination and choose the path that will get us there. We believe that God has called us to be His people, to walk in His way, and to live with Him forever. Knowing the path that leads to an eternal home with God, we choose the narrow way. Not because it is more convenient, but because it will get us where we want to go.

by Mike Benson

Mary Brunson was driving the new family SUV and inadvertently made a wrong turn. To make matters worse, she then sideswiped another oncoming vehicle.

In tears she began fumbling through the glove compartment in an effort to locate the appropriate insurance papers. When she finally found the documents, she also discovered a small note attached in her husband's handwriting. It read simply:

"Dear Mary, when you read these papers, remember that it's you I love and not the car."

Gentlemen, that's consideration! The Bible says, "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers" (1 Pet. 3:7 NIV). Think about it.

by Barry Newton

It was not because there was a lack of conviction or a deep passion for the message that a problem existed. The crisis Jeremiah encountered involved a simple but fatal activity which boiled down to inbreeding.

An amazing story unfolds before our eyes from Jeremiah 23. Anyone today, who might lightly dismiss the power of what it would have been like to have been caught in the dynamics which were at work, would be leaving themselves wide-open to repeating being whisked away by forces equivalent to a raging torrent. So what was happening?

To put the story in modern terms, a bunch of preachers were reading each others books, attending each other's lectures and building upon each other's messages in order to present to God's people a powerful solidarity in proclaiming a comforting message./1 Unfortunately, their message originated no higher than their own imaginations; their message did not come from the LORD./2 But with the people wanting the message to be true and relying upon the claim that it was from the LORD, the reality that it was actually man-made could in no way diminish their appetite to readily consume it and find comfort in it.

Inbreeding is always a danger when any group only listens to itself. For example, how will those who embrace the common Protestant teaching of salvation by faith alone be able to arrive at an accurate understanding of the text if they only listen to their proponents and would refuse to dialogue with their detractors about the text? Conversely, if we totally disengage ourselves from dialoguing with those with different understandings, might not we also be subject to inbreeding? While we may be confident in our understanding, should we not always remain open to receiving the legitimate message of the text ... even though it might be different than what we currently think is true? Our allegiance should be to the faithful message of the text.

In order to avoid the ditch of inbreeding, it would be quite human to over-react and thus plummet off the other side of the road into the ditch of becoming a butterfly. If someone were to flatly assert that truth equally comes from many sources or that we should listen to all voices, then life becomes the flimsy flitter from one attractive flower to another with no particular guiding direction or ability to distinguish the quality of each message.

Responsible discipleship requires more than the naivety of inbreeding or the flittering to embrace every new and appealing idea. The path the Jewish Bereans chose illustrates a responsible approach to those who claim to present truth. They examined the Scriptures daily to see if the message they were hearing was true./3 They neither walled themselves off nor did they wildly embrace something just because it was new. They tested the message they heard against Scripture. As a result, they embraced the truth of the gospel and became disciples of the Lord.

Scripture reveals what is true; Scripture is the standard./4 We have been repeatedly warned that personal feelings and experiences are unreliable./5

1/ Jeremiah 23:30, 27, 17 2/ Jeremiah 23:16, 21, 25-27, 32 3/ Acts 17:11 4/ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 5/ Romans 10:2; Galatians 1:8, Deuteronomy 13:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12